State Center developers seek lawsuit’s dismissal

Posted: 3:24 pm Fri, January 14, 2011
By Melody Simmons
Daily Record Business Writer

Developers of the $1.5 billion State Center project, stalled this week because of a lawsuit filed by downtown property owners, are seeking to have the suit dismissed.

Caroline G. Moore, CEO of Ekistics LLC, State Center’s developer, filed the motion in Baltimore City Circuit Court on Thursday. It is the latest volley in the controversial history of the development that has yet to break ground.

State officials announced Tuesday the development was indefinitely on hold pending resolution of the lawsuit, filed in mid-December.

State bonds were to have been sold this week to underwrite most of the construction of a $35 million parking garage, which was expected to break ground later this month. The bond sale was halted due to the legal battle, state economic development officials said.

Moore defended the project, however.

“We firmly believe that the Complaint will be dismissed quickly because it is frivolous, without merit and merely a veiled attempt by some downtown property owners to limit the free market,” Moore said in a statement e-mailed by her spokesman, Mitchell Brown.

Moore was out of town and unavailable for an interview, Brown said.

Alan Rifkin, attorney for the property owners who are seeking to halt the development, said Friday that Moore’s motion to dismiss was predictable.

“It was hardly unexpected,” said Rifkin, a partner with Rifkin, Livingston, Levitan & Silver LLC. “We will respond in due course.”

Rifkin’s clients claim the development will have an adverse impact on central business district leasing.  The project is expected to add 1.5 billion square feet of retail, office and residential space to the city’s west side, where the state office complex now sits near the intersection of Martin Luther King Blvd. and Preston Street.

The lawsuit charges the state Department of General Services did not follow its own procurement procedures when it let contracts for State Center beginning in 2005.

Moore, however, denied that in the statement issued Friday.

“We reiterate that the selection process undertaken regarding the redevelopment of State Center was appropriate and will be validated by the courts,” her statement said. “With unprecedented levels of openness, inclusiveness and transparency over six years, a plan has been created for State Center that will transform one of the most transit-rich sites in the State from a single use monolith into a vibrant mixed-use community.”