In our previous post, we discussed negotiations between attorneys for the City of Henderson and the real estate developer to settle the city’s litigation related to a proposed series of sports arenas on a 485-acre plot of federally-owned land. City officials accused the developer and his team of attorneys and other advisors of plotting to sell the land, which it bought with the city’s help, to residential developers at a profit.
We can now report that the litigation is partially complete after the developer and one of his attorneys reached settlements with the city on March 14. With the developer’s other attorney having previously settled claims against him, that leaves the land consultant and public relations person the developer used in the deal remaining in the litigation. Negotiations with the remaining defendants are ongoing, according to an attorney representing the city.
To briefly recap, the developer approached the city in 2011 with a proposal to build a $1 billion series of professional sports arenas on the property to hopefully lure teams to Henderson. The city approved the plan and the developer agreed to purchase the land from the federal government for $10.5 million. But late last year the developer informed the city that the deal was dead. The city filed suit, claiming it had evidence that the developer and his advisors were trying to sell the land piecemeal for residential and commercial development.
Terms of the settlement were not disclosed, except for the developer agreeing never to participate in any future real estate development deals in Henderson.
Source: VEGAS INC, “Henderson settles lawsuit against would-be sports arena developer, but litigation continues,” Eli Segall, March 14, 2013
· To learn more about business legal disputes, please visit our Las Vegas business litigation page.