The owner of a popular chain of San Antonio coffee shops and a soccer training center racked another legal judgment, this time for his work as a real estate broker.
Luigi Massa won a $1.3 million default judgment last month against CommonWealth Coffeehouse owner Jorge Herrero, who also owns Soccer Central. The ruling included paying the judgement with interest as well as the attorney fees for Massa, a local dentist and owner of Massa Properties, the San Antonio Business Journal reported.
Massa accused Herrero of negligence and breach of contract over a 2022 office building deal in Lufkin that Herrero brokered for Massa. Attorneys said the transaction was handled in a “deceptive” manner.
A Bexar County judge found that Herrero failed to disclose that he also represented the seller in the deal and falsified a lease renewal document that compelled Massa to pay $3.34 million for the building.
The Texas Facilities Commission, a state agency that is responsible for managing and maintaining state facilities, holds the lease on the 10,000 square foot space in Lufkin.
This is the latest lawsuit against Herrero in his business dealings, and the second ruling this summer resulting in a default judgement for him to pay.
Vantage Bank won a $1 million judgement for an unpaid loan balance tied to a Grand Prairie office acquisition in June.
Three CommonWealth Coffeehouse properties went up for auction at the beginning of the year as a result of a default on a $448,000 loan taken out through the First National Bank of Sonora in 2023. The properties are all in San Antonio: a shop at 118 Davis Court, a residence at 122 Davis Court, and a multifamily property called the Cottages on Grayson, at 930 East Grayson Street.
The CommonWealth Coffee ownership entity has additional loans totaling more than $1.75 million. The Texas Real Estate Commission’s database shows no active or inactive broker or sales agent license under Herrero’s name.
The auctions have not stopped the coffee shop’s expansion in San Antonio. The company still operates a two story location at 203 East Jones Avenue just off Broadway in the former location of Rosella’s, as well as locations in Alamo Heights, Hemisfair and Weston, and the company plans to open a location in Stone Oak this summer. — Eric Weilbacher
Read more
Commercial
San Antonio
Partners tackles leasing at city’s tallest office building