Superior Court Judge Cesar Noble has shot down Hartford’s latest attempt to end Middletown developer Centerplan Co.’s long-running legal challenge to its 2016 firing from the development of Dunkin’ Park.
Noble, on Monday, ruled against a city argument that Centerplan had previously signed away its standing to bring a legal challenge to its bonding company on the ballpark project, Arch Insurance Co.
“Centerplan will now be allowed to prove the mayor’s termination of the stadium construction contract in June 2016, which precipitated this seven-year nightmare for the principals of Centerplan and DoNo, was wrongful,” said Attorney Louis Pepe, who is representing the affiliated companies. “The city’s day of reckoning is coming.”
A city motion to dismiss a portion of the legal challenge holding up blocks of apartment development around the ballfield is still up for a hearing in October.
After dropping DoNo Hartford LLC as the developer of the ballpark and surrounding development, the city moved forward with Stamford-based RMS Cos., which opened its first 270-unit apartment building last year. RMS’ plan to roll right into a second phase of construction on nearby properties was stymied after the Connecticut Supreme Court in May 2022 ordered a new trial on prior challenges brought by DoNo and Centerplan.
The city is advancing several arguments, including that a judge could not reasonably agree with DoNo’s request that it be granted the right to build on the properties around the ballpark, including the one already developed. The city is also arguing that a court should not be in the position of rewriting development agreements and that the city’s relationship with DoNo is too broken to reasonably pursue a development together.
Pepe, on Tuesday, said he and his clients are “very pleased” about the court’s decision on the motion against Centerplan, but disappointed in the city’s lack of interest in negotiating a settlement.
Hartford Corporation Counsel Howard Rifkin said the city has been, and remains, open to settlement talks.
“With all due respect to Attorney Pepe, the city has never said it is disinterested or will not engage in settlement negotiations,” Rifkin said. “Were we to do that, we would clearly not do that in public settings.”
