Calamos hotel fires, sues management firm

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A Naperville hotel owned by the Calamos family has fired and sued the company running the property, alleging that the hotel has been so poorly managed that its reputation has suffered.

A Calamos venture that owns the Hotel Arista dumped Benchmark Hospitality International at the end of April, only about a year after hiring the Texas-based management firm to run the 144-room hotel, which is part of the CityGate Centre development, according to the lawsuit.

“Benchmark wholly failed to perform its obligations at basic levels,” said the complaint, filed in U.S. District Court in Chicago.

The Arista is in danger of losing its four-star status with Forbes as a result of Benchmark’s mismanagement, and the hotel lacks basic operating procedures and proper employee oversight, the suit says. The firm, which has collected nearly $382,000 in fees from the hotel, has bungled tax payments and let maintenance slip, leading to mold buildup in showers and mildew on beds, according to the complaint.

“The hotel has received numerous reports from vendors that bills are not being paid on time, and community members have reported to hotel ownership that the hotel’s reputation is in decline,” the suit says.

‘VIGOROUSLY DISPUTES THE ALLEGATIONS’

Though the Calamos venture already has fired Benchmark, the management company isn’t leaving. Benchmark says it can’t be terminated because its management contract gives it the right to fix the problems, an assertion the Calamos venture disputes, according to the complaint.

“Benchmark vigorously disputes the allegations and continues to successfully manage the hotel, and has the ratings to show it,” the company’s lawyer, Jamie Filipovic, a partner in O’Hagan’s Chicago office, said in an email.

Bill Takahaski, general counsel at Calamos Family Partners, declined to comment.

The Arista opened in 2008 in CityGate Centre, a mixed-use project with 1 million square feet of office, retail and other space. The Calamos family built the complex on a 31-acre site at the intersection of Interstate 88 and State Route 59.

By Alby Gallun