Dive Brief:
- Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan and his administration have filed suit against State Center LLC, developer of a proposed $1.5 billion mixed-use center in Baltimore, in order to force the company to cede its development rights so that Hogan can choose another company to redesign and build the project, according to The Baltimore Sun.
- The project as planned would replace existing government offices with new space, as well as add other office, retail and residential components. The development has been delayed for years amid legal challenges involving the amount of money the state would have to borrow for the project and the process that former Gov. Martin O’Malley used to select State Center.
- The Board of Public Works on Monday voted to terminate State Center's lease agreements, despite an attorney for the developer threatening to countersue if the board took that action.
Dive Insight:
According to State Center, Maryland has held up progress on the development and is in default on its agreement to redevelop the 28-acre parcel. Hogan’s administration maintains it has the right to terminate the 2009 contract. Hogan’s lawsuit argues that the real estate market has changed since the contract was first awarded and the project is now "prohibitively more expensive."
Hogan is also up in arms over the way his administration must deal with new state-funded infrastructure projects. He announced last week that his top priority in 2017 would be to scuttle a requirement that he publicly score transportation projects based on criteria such as environmental impact and access to transportation.
The process does not require projects be selected based on their scores, but it does oblige the governor's office to offer an explanation when lower-scoring projects are chosen over others. Hogan said that the Maryland Open Transportation Investment Decision Act of 2016, which he calls the "road kill bill," would force the state to cancel some upcoming road projects, but state legislators say that claim is false.