Wednesday, June 23, 2010
My Blog Now Has a Voice
The principal owner of Inwood Village and Dorian Development sued the city for $15.5 million in Hamilton County Common Pleas Court June 21. Van der Haer claims city officials failed to honor a series of contracts to subsidize her housing development at the former Glencoe Apartments near Christ Hospital.
To bolster her case, she developed a blog entitled, "Was Mark Twain Right?"
Among its features is a trio of renderings showing what Van der Haer was hoping to build at the intersection of Auburn Ave. and Glencoe Place.
"That was a master plan concept that included a future phase of new construction," Van der Haer said of the renderings on her blog. "The tall building would have been a condominium tower overlooking the park. It was a future project that would have likely been developed had the city not breached its commitment to me."
Read more: Developer launches blog to rail against city - Business Courier of Cincinnati
Monday, June 21, 2010
Where to Find the Lawsuit
Clerk of Courts
Local Developer, Small Business Owner Sues City of Cincinnati
The City of Cincinnati has failed to live up to its binding agreements, according to a lawsuit filed by Pauline Van der Haer, a principal of Inwood Village and Dorian Development. The suit filed today seeks more than $10 million dollars in damages and lost profits.
The site is the former Glencoe Hotel and row houses built in the 1880s, which was to be developed into a $20 million complex that included condominiums. Van der Haer has been in the process of redeveloping the site since 2002. In 2005, city officials pledged $2.6 million for public improvements and other help, then increased that amount to $5.4 million in 2007 but failed to ever release the funds. The site continues to sit undeveloped.
“The last thing I wanted to do was sue our city, but they left me no choice by continually breaching their commitments,” Van der Haer says. “Had this project moved forward as it was agreed to, our city would have already realized millions of dollars in tax revenue and growth.”
Van der Haer added that she believes the city must be held accountable for its failure to make good on agreements. The blatant failure of the city to release the funding set aside for the development has caused the loss of millions of dollars, she says.