ST. LOUIS BUSINESS JOURNAL -- Bank of Washington, NorthSide Regeneration's lender, has filed suit against two city of St. Louis entities, following the Krewson administration's decision last month to find the developer in default. Litigation was expected.
The lawsuit, filed in Franklin County Circuit Court by lawyers with Stone, Leyton & Gershman, said the city had threatened to find NorthSide in default of its redevelopment agreement in order to get its land and economic activity taxes needed for the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency's new western headquarters in St. Louis Place. The facility could open in 2024. Paul McKeeowns NorthSide.
In January 2016, the two sides had reached an agreement in which NorthSide would turn over its property and Bank of Washington would release its liens on the property. The city paid Bank of Washington, led by L. B. Eckelkamp, some $5.3 million as part of the agreement. The city will pay Bank of Washington an additional $2 million when the city turns over the NGA project land to the federal government.
The bank's lawsuit said the city has now taken the position that it is not bound by the so-called "future assurances agreement," which gave NorthSide more time to meet development benchmarks, because it was never executed. The lawsuit said the city is also in default of two other agreements.
