Chattanooga: RiverCity sues to get 700 block land back

The RiverCity Co. development group has sued the owners of a key tract of land designated for the Mayfair on Market project and wants the site back, claiming the downtown property hasn’t been developed as agreed.

The suit claims the property owners, Rose & Crown and 700 Block Development Partners, have refused to resell the land, located in the 700 block of Market Street, back to RiverCity in violation of an agreement between the parties.

In the suit, RiverCity, a nonprofit downtown development group, asks for Hamilton County Chancery Court to order the owners to transfer the property to RiverCity, which sold it about three years ago.

Paul Brock, president of RiverCity, said he worked closely with Rose & Crown principal Trey Stanley and tried to support his efforts to redevelop the property.

“We have to take action to enforce our rights under the contract,” he said.

Mr. Stanley said he’s trying to develop the property, but is hamstrung by the hard hits taken by the real estate and financial service sectors in the current economic downturn.

“We have been working tirelessly with our partners and advisers to develop an appropriate path forward in these turbulent economic times,” he said.

Mr. Stanley said it is “extremely disappointing that RiverCity has elected to behave in an adversarial manner versus a solution-oriented approach that would have led to the development of the site and the betterment of our city.”

Demolition of the old, dilapidated buildings on the 700 block began in March about two years after the original plans were announced.

But in August, Mr. Stanley said plans for the Mayfair on Market project were likely to change because a key investor, the Chattanooga Housing Authority, wasn’t ready to go forward due to financial problems.

“From our standpoint, we’re going to proceed with the project, but it could be in a different manner than if they’d (CHA) been involved,” Mr. Stanley said at the time. “Everything is on the table.”