A lawsuit by the developer accuses the property owner of reneging on the $46-million deal. The owner says it's the developer who walked away.
By Dave McKibben, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
2:17 PM PDT, October 30, 2007
A proposed housing project near Disneyland that has fueled a rancorous debate over the future of Anaheim's resort district and the city's relationship with the entertainment giant may be dead.
Details of the deal's possible collapse are contained in a lawsuit that project developer SunCal Cos. filed last week against the owners of the 26-acre parcel where 1,500 condominiums and low-cost apartments were to be built.
SunCal says the Frank Family Partnership reneged on the $46-million deal to sell the land. SunCal is asking that the contract be enforced, along with $60 million in damages. The land is currently occupied by two mobile home parks.
The lawsuit, filed in Orange County Superior Court, alleges that the Frank Family Partnership conspired with unnamed third parties to kill the agreement.
"The Frank Family Partnership is apparently blowing off a $46-million deal," said Skip Miller, SunCal's attorney. "Would you do that unless you had something else in the fire? We're a very good buyer. We have zoning approval and we're anticipating project approval. But all of a sudden, they just walk away?"
But attorneys for the Frank Family Partnership said today that it was SunCal that walked out on the deal signed in April 2005.
"The Frank Family granted SunCal eight different extensions which postponed the close of escrow," said Ed Connor, attorney for the partnership. "The Frank Family bent over backward for two years. What is so surprising is that SunCal three weeks ago suddenly decided not to make the $500,000 deposit that could have resulted in another three-month extension. We were absolutely stunned."
The suit alleges that "opposition to the project has caused significant delays." Much of the opposition has come from Walt Disney Co., which has filed two lawsuits and funded two ballot measures to halt the plans.
Over the last 15 months, debate over the project has pitted Disney, tourist officials and their allies against developers, housing advocates, low-wage workers and some religious leaders who argue that the city, and especially the tourist district, needs low-cost housing.
The Frank Family has now begun negotiating with other potential buyers. Connor said Disney was not one of them.
"We are now scrambling to try to salvage a sale with somebody else," Connor said. "The property has been off the market for years. We would have been happy to sell to SunCal, but I think the prospect of fighting two ballot measures has convinced them to cash in their chips."
The suit claims that Miller said Anaheim Mayor Curt Pringle, who helped lead the campaign to gather signatures for the latest anti-housing initiative, could be called to testify.
"The mayor is obviously an integral part of this process," he said.
