A Fulton County Superior Court judge has temporarily blocked College Park’s Business Industrial Development Authority from terminating a multimillion dollar deal with the development firm first selected to build homes at the Six West project.
The development authority’s own leaders, Chair Tracey Wyatt and College Park Mayor Bianca Motley Broom, warned that a lawsuit would result from the board’s sudden decision earlier this month to replace development firm Property Markets Group (PMG) with Nysa Capital.
Seyfarth Shaw attorneys representing PMG filed a lawsuit against College Park’s Business Industrial Development Authority on Thursday for ending an agreement to purchase land and build the residential portion of Six West, a $1.5 billion project located near Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport.
The development authority’s attorney, Danielle Matricardi, did not return a call regarding the lawsuit.
The lawsuit is asking the court to prohibit “the sale of Six West Residential to another buyer” and order the development authority to honor the terms of the original agreement.
Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee signed a 30-day temporary restraining order on Friday. According to the legal filing, the development authority (BIDA) cannot move to terminate the purchase and sale agreement with PMG or enter into a partnership with another developer while the restraining order is in effect.
Six West is College Park’s public-private mixed-used development project. Stream Realty Partners is the broker for the 311-acre site that is to include hotels, luxury retail and millions of square feet of office space.
The city wants a residential developer to build 750 apartment units, 25 lots for single-family homes and 166 townhome units, according to site plans.
In April, development authority members approved PMG as the residential developer. The board’s decision to change to Nysa Capital during this month’s meeting led Mayor Motley Broom to predict the authority would be charged with “breach of contract.”
PMG submitted the winning bid in a request for proposals process that was overseen by Stream Realty Group earlier this year. PMG’s legal complaint states that the firm agreed to purchase 55 acres for $14.2 million in May for the build out of Six West Residential. The firm deposited $710,000 of earnest money with an escrow company, the lawsuit states.
It also reads that PMG believes Nysa Capital was a losing bidder in the request for proposals process but given an opportunity to amend its proposal after the allotted time period for submissions ended.
The development authority’s “purported termination of the (purchase and sale agreement) and refusal to proceed with the duly agreed upon sale of Six West Residential is in breach of the (purchase and sale agreement) and is without any lawful justification,” the lawsuit reads. It also says the development authority can only legally terminate the contract in event of a default by PMG, “which did not happen.”
“PMG stands ready today to close the transaction, in accordance with the terms and conditions of the (purchase and sale agreement) and reserving all rights therein, including but not limited to the right to due diligence,” the lawsuit says.
