[ back ]
Hadley Township project remains in limbo
(by Benjamin Israel - May 06, 2008)
While the Richmond Heights City Council met May 5, a second meeting spontaneously convened in the hall outside. About two dozen Hadley Township residents gathered around attorney Michael Wolff.
Residents and business owners from the 57-acre neighborhood across Hanley Road from the Home Depot store listened to Wolff explain that he believed Michelson Commercial Realty and Development had a legal obligation to buy their properties by August.
Nearly all Hadley Township property owners have signed contracts with Michelson that gives the company an option to buy their properties. Michelson has agreed with the City Council to build an upscale shopping center that mixes retail, commercial and residential development east of Hanley Road just north of the Wal-Mart in Maplewood where a longstanding predominantly African-American community is today.
The Hadley Township residents filed out of the meeting after they heard Mayor James Beck say the city was doing all it could to get the Hadley Heights project going. However, he said, Michelson could not pay yet because it “cannot finalize financing until it has all the property in place.”
Michelson signed contracts to buy nearly all the homeowners out nearly two years ago, but has paid only a handful of property owners. “They’re holding us in limbo,” said 50-year Hadley Township resident Lucille Alton. Alton is one of about 200 waiting for either payment or word that the deal is off.
Hadley Township residents Leonard Roberts and Reginald Finney circulated a leaflet last week that urged their neighbors to come, because, the leaflet read, there “is no longer any legal reason for delay. There should be an immediate announcement of a closing date.” About 100 Hadley Township residents and property owners showed up.
The development was not on the council agenda May 5. Finney and others spoke during time for public comment.
In August, Michelson sent Hadley Township residents a letter that said it could not buy because property owner Renee Bell of Waterhout Construction Company had challenged Richmond Heights’ legal right to condemn her land. In the letter, Michelson said the lawsuit meant that it could not close on the contracts for at least 90 days because of a situation of “force majeure,” a legal term meaning that a contract cannot be enforced because problems beyond a signer’s control prevents it from doing so — in this case a possible court ruling that would prevent Michelson from taking control of the entire area.
Bell’s attorney, Gerard Carmody, argued in court papers that the city could not condemn Bell’s property because it did not meet the legal definition of “blighted.” However, according to court papers, on April 2, Carmody wrote to Michelson’s legal team to tell them that Bell would no longer challenge Michelson’s right to eminent domain. Carmody wrote that his client wanted “some certainty,” and that “we are concerned about the toll the continued uncertainty has on the residents of Hadley Township who have entered into contracts to sell their property but whose closings have been delayed because of this litigation.”
On April 30, Judge David Vincent condemned Bell’s land and appointed three commissioners to determine a fair price.
In an interview, Richmond Heights City Attorney Ken Heinz said other lawsuits could delay closing the sales contracts. One concerns a rental property at 7415 West Bruno Avenue, across from Wal-Mart. In this case a judge refused to condemn the property because the negotiated contract allowed the city to pull out of the deal, but not the seller, and therefore the discussions were not conducted in good faith.
Court records show that Richmond Heights has sued to condemn six other properties. Each time, a judge condemned the land, and the only issue remaining is price.
At the council meeting, Finney said the delay had taken its toll on the residents. “We can’t make decisions about our lives,” he said. “We can’t make decisions about our property.”
After the public comment section of the meeting, many Hadley Township residents left the meeting room and gathered in the hallway outside. What began as a small conversation with Wolff grew into a crowd.
“You guys are right,” Wolff said. “I think that Michelson is legally obligated to close within 90 days.”
Wolff said his reading of the law is that as soon as Bell dropped her challenge to condemnation, the contract Michelson offered to most residents took effect, obligating the developer to give 90 days notice that it would close on the properties and that property owners had the right to sue to enforce that.
“You all have a meeting and get together and discuss what you want to do about this,” Wolff said.
In an interview after the meeting, 2nd Ward Councilman Michael Jones who represents Hadley Township said he sympathizes with his constituents but the delay cannot be helped. He said Michelson cannot close yet.
“You have to have 100 percent ownership,” Jones said. “You can’t go to a lending institution and say, ‘I want a loan’ and have only 20 percent of the property.”
[ back ]
