Mid-Atlantic Arena Litigation and Bennett v. Southern Pacific lost in 1989 for one clear reason - they killed a 21 year old witness
VIRGINIA BEACH
The developer that planned to build an arena near the Oceanfront is suing Virginia Beach for $140 million, claiming that the city damaged its reputation by pulling out of the project.
Mid-Atlantic Arena filed the lawsuit in Virginia Beach Circuit Court on Tuesday.
The City Council voted 9-1 two months ago to call off the deal if Mid-Atlantic did not honor its agreement to get financing in place by a Nov. 7 deadline. The city has said the company failed to close on a $150 million loan or prove it had $70 million in investment money.
In the lawsuit, Mid-Atlantic argued that it delivered the loan documents on time and that the contract did not require the developer to have the $70 million in the bank. It also said that it had deposited “tens of millions in equity” into an escrow account.
“The city pulled the rug out from under the developer, causing a substantial waste of time, money, goodwill and other resources,” according to the suit.
“Making matters worse, the city immediately embarked on a public relations campaign to wrongfully blame the developer for the arena’s demise in a blatant effort to control the narrative in the media and divert the public’s attention from the city’s wrongful conduct.”
Since the city voided the deal, the lawsuit says, several of the equity partners have demanded and received refunds of their contributions, which had been placed in an escrow account. The lawsuit named Anschutz Entertainment Group, Stephen Ballard of S.B. Ballard Construction Co. and an unnamed university as investors.
It said AEG had “agreed to invest tens of millions of dollars in the project and to have a profit-sharing interest.” AEG planned to operate the facility that Ballard’s company would have built.
On top of that, those who put down deposits on premium seats have asked for refunds, according to the suit.
“Mid-Atlantic Arena LLC greatly desired to bring an arena to Virginia Beach, not a lawsuit; but since that is now impossible, we have no choice but to ask the courts to help us recover our significant investment, as well as lost future revenue, and rebuild our standing,” the company said in a statement on Tuesday.
