Trey Parker and Matt Stone, creators of “South Park,” purchased Casa Bonita in 2021. (Helen H. Richardson/The Denver Post)
Three years after it was sold, an electrical contracting firm in Denver has been bankrupted by a $1.8 million court verdict that was largely the result of its new owner not paying its previous owners for work on Casa Bonita renovations.
Choice Electric has been around since 1985. In 2022, it was sold by three electricians — Robert Grassia, Cory Burris and Dana Hoff — to Eric Berger for $2.6 million, court records show.
“Very soon after the sale of the business, the four … lost sight of the big picture of what they had negotiated,” Adams County District Judge Art Hernandez wrote Oct. 30.
“They are great business executives and each has certain strengths and weaknesses,” the judge explained. “Working together as contemplated … they each could have benefited greatly from the bargain they struck on that date. However … each got tunnel vision.”
In addition to the sale price, Berger was to pay the sellers for their work on projects begun before the sale. That included a $9.5 million contract for work on Casa Bonita, the Lakewood restaurant that “South Park” creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone renovated and reopened in 2023.
Berger was to pay the sellers 36% of Choice’s $3.7 million in profit from the job, but never did.
“To the detriment of each of the (four), they were unable to reasonably resolve this matter without the cost and time-consuming impact of litigation,” Hernandez wrote this fall.
After a four-day trial in Brighton, Hernandez ordered Choice and Berger to pay $1.8 million to Grassia, Burris and Hoff for work completed after the company’s sale, with $1.3 million of that attributable to the Casa Bonita deal. But even that hasn’t ended the dispute.
Choice is now suing its three former owners for theft and fraud, saying they allegedly kept client payments after the sale and misrepresented the status of some of the projects in progress. A trial has not yet been scheduled in that case, which is in Denver District Court.
Meanwhile, Choice Electric is bankrupt. The company filed for Chapter 11 protection Dec. 1, a week after its former owners began garnishing its bank accounts, court records show. It owes $715,000 to Byline Bank, in addition to the October court judgment that it has not paid.
“(Choice) filed this bankruptcy as a result of an approximately $1.8 million judgment and dispute with … a disgruntled seller,” Berger told the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in an affidavit he filed Dec. 2. “Choice intends to appeal the judgment and, at the same time, reorganize its debts.”
Berger did not respond to a request for an interview about Choice’s future, nor did Jeffrey Weinman, Choice’s bankruptcy attorney with Michael Best & Friedrich.
“The bankruptcy filing does not change my clients’ commitment to collecting on the judgment,” said Joseph MacHatton of Werge & Corbin Law, the lawyer for Choice’s former owners.
He added: “While we are not in a position to comment on the debtor’s motivations or the potential impact on timing of payment, my clients remain confident in their position and will take all appropriate steps to ensure the judgment is addressed through the proper legal channels.”
Trey Parker and Matt Stone, creators of “South Park,” purchased Casa Bonita in 2021. (Helen H. Richardson/The Denver Post)
Three years after it was sold, an electrical contracting firm in Denver has been bankrupted by a $1.8 million court verdict that was largely the result of its new owner not paying its previous owners for work on Casa Bonita renovations.
Choice Electric has been around since 1985. In 2022, it was sold by three electricians — Robert Grassia, Cory Burris and Dana Hoff — to Eric Berger for $2.6 million, court records show.
“Very soon after the sale of the business, the four … lost sight of the big picture of what they had negotiated,” Adams County District Judge Art Hernandez wrote Oct. 30.
“They are great business executives and each has certain strengths and weaknesses,” the judge explained. “Working together as contemplated … they each could have benefited greatly from the bargain they struck on that date. However … each got tunnel vision.”
In addition to the sale price, Berger was to pay the sellers for their work on projects begun before the sale. That included a $9.5 million contract for work on Casa Bonita, the Lakewood restaurant that “South Park” creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone renovated and reopened in 2023.
Berger was to pay the sellers 36% of Choice’s $3.7 million in profit from the job, but never did.
“To the detriment of each of the (four), they were unable to reasonably resolve this matter without the cost and time-consuming impact of litigation,” Hernandez wrote this fall.
After a four-day trial in Brighton, Hernandez ordered Choice and Berger to pay $1.8 million to Grassia, Burris and Hoff for work completed after the company’s sale, with $1.3 million of that attributable to the Casa Bonita deal. But even that hasn’t ended the dispute.
Choice is now suing its three former owners for theft and fraud, saying they allegedly kept client payments after the sale and misrepresented the status of some of the projects in progress. A trial has not yet been scheduled in that case, which is in Denver District Court.
Meanwhile, Choice Electric is bankrupt. The company filed for Chapter 11 protection Dec. 1, a week after its former owners began garnishing its bank accounts, court records show. It owes $715,000 to Byline Bank, in addition to the October court judgment that it has not paid.
“(Choice) filed this bankruptcy as a result of an approximately $1.8 million judgment and dispute with … a disgruntled seller,” Berger told the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in an affidavit he filed Dec. 2. “Choice intends to appeal the judgment and, at the same time, reorganize its debts.”
Berger did not respond to a request for an interview about Choice’s future, nor did Jeffrey Weinman, Choice’s bankruptcy attorney with Michael Best & Friedrich.
“The bankruptcy filing does not change my clients’ commitment to collecting on the judgment,” said Joseph MacHatton of Werge & Corbin Law, the lawyer for Choice’s former owners.
He added: “While we are not in a position to comment on the debtor’s motivations or the potential impact on timing of payment, my clients remain confident in their position and will take all appropriate steps to ensure the judgment is addressed through the proper legal channels.”
