Legal battle over development around Dunkin’ Donuts Park continues as original, fired developers seek to ‘take back’ project

The original developers of Hartford’s Dunkin’ Donuts Park and the land around it have filed an amended complaint essentially seeking to take back the mixed-use development project around the ballpark that the city fired them from in 2016.

The filing in Hartford Superior Court Wednesday is the latest development in a long-running legal battle involving Centerplan Construction Co. and DoNo Hartford LLC, who claim they were wrongly fired from the ballpark and the mixed-use development projects.

The former developers are asking, among other things, to stop the current developer of the mixed-used development, RMS Cos. of Stamford, from pushing ahead to the next phase of construction on the second of four parcels, known as North Crossing.

Centerplan and DoNo Hartford also are seeking to add RMS to the court case.

RMS has nearly completed the $50 million first phase, which is just south of Dunkin’ Donuts Park. The construction includes 270 apartments, a 330-space parking garage and 11,000 square feet of retail space. RMS chief executive Randy Salvatore has said he is nearly ready to move on to the next parcel.

In May, the city suffered a major setback when the state Supreme Court ordered a new trial in a wrongful termination lawsuit pressed by Centerplan and DoNo Hartford. In 2019, a Superior Court jury had sided with the city.

The mixed-use development is high stakes because tax revenue generated was supposed to help the city offset the cost of $71 million ballpark. The area also is seen as integral to reconnecting downtown to the city’s neighborhoods to the north, torn apart by the construction of I-84 in the early 1970s.

Centerplan and DoNo Hartford also are seeking unspecified monetary damages from the city and its architect, Pendulum Studios.

What’s happened so far

Centerplan and DoNo Hartford were hired by previous Mayor Pedro E. Segarra, but they were fired by current Mayor Luke Bronin for allegedly not finishing the 6,100-seat ballpark on time under what was an admittedly aggressive timeline.

The opening of Dunkin’ Donuts Park was delayed a year, until 2017, while a new contractor came on board to finish the job while the Hartford Yard Goats, a Double A affiliate of the Colorado Rockies, played their first season on the road.

Centerplan and DoNo Hartford originally filed a lawsuit in July 2016, arguing they were wrongfully terminated from the construction of the park and as the developer of the surrounding parcels, and sought $90 million in damages.

In addition to a Superior Court jury siding with the city, trial Judge Thomas Moukawsher, following the jury verdict, lifted restrictions on the ballpark’s surrounding parcels, allowing the city to hire RMS to pursue the mixed-use development project.

On appeal, Centerplan and DoNo, through their attorney Louis Pepe of McElroy, Deutch, Mulvaney & Carpenter, argued that the trial court in 2019 did not allow them to present evidence that they could not be held liable for “countless flaws” in the ballpark designs because the architect, Pendulum, was under the city’s control.

That, according to the developers, resulted in cost overruns, delays in the ballpark’s construction and, ultimately, the termination of the developers.

The Supreme Court, in a 5-0 decision, held that who had legal control over the architect and the stadium design from January to June 2016 — from when a term sheet was executed to when the city fired Centerplan and DoNo — was ambiguous and, therefore, should be decided by the jury.

What’s new in the amended complaint

Centerplan and DoNo are still seeking monetary damages from the city, but they want to add RMS Cos. as a defendant. (Pendulum was also added as a named defendant, but earlier filings before the first trial had counts against it. Centerplan and DoNo are seeking monetary damages from the architect as well.)

Centerplan and DoNo are seeking a declaratory judgment to determine what rights Centerplan and DoNO, RMS and the city have concerning the four parcels.

In addition, Centerplan and DoNo are seeking “specific performance” of the master development contract and ground leases they entered into with the city for the mixed-use development project surrounding the ballpark.

Specific performance is a remedy that binds parties in an agreement to the terms of that agreement.

Howard Rifkin, the city’s corporation counsel, said Thursday that he expects the city to prevail in a second trial and called Centerplan’s attempt to stop the mixed-use development “irresponsible.”

“The complaint filed yesterday by Centerplan was the expected next step after the Supreme Court sent the case back to the trial court, and the city remains confident that, at the end of the day, the result will be the same as it was the first time – a jury verdict in favor of the city,” he said in a statement. “As for Centerplan’s irresponsible effort to stop the development of the parcels adjacent to the stadium, which was already decided in both Superior Court and Appellate Court, we will be filing a motion to dismiss as quickly as possible.”

RMS Thursday said it was reviewing the filing.

Ted Glanzer can be reached at tglanzer@courant.com, and Kenneth R. Gosselin can be reached at kgosselin@courant.com.