Settlement of All Conshohocken Fire Litigation of August 13, 2008 Conshohocken Fire

CONSHOHOCKEN, Pa., Oct. 7 /PRNewswire/ -- A joint press conference was held on Wednesday, October 7, 2009 at 10am at the Marriott Residence Inn, steps from the site of the 2008 Conshohocken Fire, to announce that a global settlement has been reached on behalf of all of the parties resolving all claims and litigation relating to the fire. Conshohocken real estate developer J. Brian O'Neill and Philadelphia plaintiff's lawyer Robert Mongeluzzi conduced the press conference.

Settlement negotiations were spearheaded by O'Neill's attorney, Fred Jacoby of the Philadelphia firm of Cozen O'Connor and Mr. Mongeluzzi on behalf of the claimants. This accomplishment would not have been possible without their leadership and without the cooperation of all of the litigants and their insurance carriers, including Erie Insurance, Zurich Insurance, Great American Insurance, Penn National Insurance, Chub and a host of others.

This remarkable settlement comes just over one year after the unfortunate fire of August 13, 2008. Similar fires and construction failures have resulted in years of litigation. The primary claims from the Meridian Tower Fire of 1991 in Philadelphia, for example, took over 12 years to resolve and secondary litigation continues today. The swift nature of this settlement is a reflection of how well our judicial system can work when all of the parties are committed to working towards common goals - in this case, the speedy resolution of the parties' claims, without the need for costly and time consuming litigation.

From the outset, O'Neill, O'Neill's subcontractors, their respective attorneys and the insurance companies all agreed to act swiftly to settle all claims in an attempt to relieve hardship that resulted from the fire.

Mr. O'Neill issued the following statement today:

"It gives me great pleasure that these settlement funds will be made available to those who experienced losses resulting from the fire. My heart goes out to the families and individuals who were affected by the fire. From the very outset, I urged my attorneys, and the respective insurance companies and subcontractors, to work diligently to bring this matter to an appropriate and swift conclusion. I am happy that those who were injured and suffered loss will now receive financial compensation. I wish to also thank the Borough of Conshohocken, Police and Firemen and the dozens of fire companies who responded so quickly and worked through the night to extinguish the fire. Most of these fire companies are comprised of 100% volunteers who risk their lives every day to save people and their possessions."

"While pushing hard to settle all claims, we also renewed our efforts to redevelop the Conshohocken waterfront. Our construction of the new Millennium apartments is nearing completion. These apartments are a significant step up from the original apartment development that was under construction at the time of the fire, and will contain furnished apartment suites and office services, room service, in room massage, fitness, and other amenities. It will set a new bar for luxury in the Philadelphia apartment and corporate housing industries."

"I am very grateful for the immense cooperation among the attorneys for the defense and plaintiffs teams, as well the insurers, who from day one focused on the goal of a speedy settlement. I am proud that we are able to achieve this in record time and I am happy to close the book on this unfortunate incident."

ABOUT O'NEILL PROPERTIES GROUP

O'Neill Properties is a leading national real estate investment and development company headquartered in King of Prussia, Pa., which is developing a portfolio it currently values at over $1 billion. The company focuses on development of mixed-use; retail; Class A office space and luxury multi-family residential housing in the Northeast through the recycling and renovation of surplus brownfield industrial and military real estate. The portfolio includes significant residential, mixed-use, retail and commercial land development projects, which include the development of over 10,000 residential units, and when completed will increase the portfolio's value to more than $4 billion. O'Neill Properties has completed development of over 13 million square feet of office space, 700 apartments, and currently has over 2 million square feet of mixed-use and residential developments under construction.

SOURCE O'Neill Properties Group

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