The “superblock” might have found its kryptonite.
As first reported on Examiner.com, the owner of the Atrium at Market Square LLC is challenging Baltimore City and several other players in awarding a contract for the “superblock” development.
A lawsuit filed Tuesday in Baltimore City Circuit Court by M. Albert Figinski, an attorney for Atrium owner Peter Angelos and two other plaintiffs, challenges the Baltimore Development Corporation?s autonomy to enter into an agreement with Lexington Square Partners LLC to develop the property and the BDC?s role in the selection process.
“We didn?t file it frivolously,” Figinski said. “[We filed it] not only as taxpayers, but as people directly affected by this proposal, since we have plaintiffs who are on both sides geographically.”
The biggest gripe in the lawsuit, perhaps, is that Lexington Square Partners, a Delaware-chartered company, is not registered to do business in the state of Maryland.
“One issue is that the awardee is not registered to do business in Maryland, so we have to serve them by substituted services and they have more than 30 days for responding,” Figinski said. “One would think they would welcome the opportunity to resolve the issue.”
Neither the BDC nor the city solicitor returned phone calls seeking comment.
Lexington Square is a partnership between Next Generation Chera LLC and Atlanta-based Harold A. Dawson Co. Inc., The Examiner reported online Tuesday. The group wants to create 200,000 square feet of retail and about 500 residential units. The proposed development site is bordered by Fayette, Liberty, Clary and Howard streets. The BDC, Lexington Square Partners, the mayor and Baltimore City Council were named in the lawsuit as defendants.
The other plaintiffs in the lawsuit are 120 West Fayette Street LLLP and 39 West Lexington Street LLC, both of which own property within the boundaries of the six-block “superblock.”
“We see the ?superblock? as an important part of the Westside revitalization, and we hope there is a way to break this legal logjam to move the development of the block forward in whatever shape that may take,” said Donald Fry, president and chief executive officer of the Greater Baltimore Committee. “It is a very integral part of the Westside revitalization, and we have been concerned with the speed that it has moved.”
The focus of the lawsuit centers around the property owners? dispute that the development agreement between the city and Lexington Square Partners should be terminated because of vague language in the Request for Proposal submitted by Lexington to the BDC. The language was never properly addressed by officials involved in the process, court documents state.
Earlier this month, Arnold Jolivet, leader of the Maryland Minority Contractors Association, used his status as a taxpayer to file a lawsuit against the “superblock,” decrying the $10.5 million credit in demolition and removal costs that was awarded to Lexington Square Partners by the city.
“I look forward to our day in court and I look forward to all of the nonsubstantive matters that the defendants will attempt to throw at us,” Figinski said. “But we will see them in court and litigate it then.”
