The BID Group of Companies has responded to a lawsuit from Commonwealth Campus Corp. over its refusal to purchase five parcels of downtown land in the vicinity of what is to be the home of the Wood Innovation and Design Centre.
In a response filed in Kelowna, BID maintains Commonwealth agreed the sale was subject to the company making the short list of proponents competing to for the contract to construct the WIDC.
The agreement made with Commonwealth was "partly oral and party in writing" and the condition of making the short list "was an express, or alternatively, an implied term of the contract," BID states in the response, filed Thursday.
BID Group chief executive officer Brian Fehr caused a pre-election firestorm when he said then-Prince George-Mackenzie MLA Pat Bell had promised his company would be on the short list only to be shut out. Bell has denied making such a promise.
The filing is in answer to a notice of civil claim Commonwealth filed May 1, which alleges BID had agreed to buy the lots for $4.1 million but after paying a $100,000 deposit BID failed to meet the closing date for completing the sale, which had been extended to April 24, 2013 from October 1, 2012.
"The defendants breach of the agreement has caused and will continue to cause the plaintiff to suffer loss, damage and expense," Commonwealth states in the claim.
Commonwealth is seeking a court order forcing BID to either live up to the agreement and cover the cost of damages caused by the delay, or to allow Commonwealth to keep the deposit and have BID pay damages for breach of contract.
Another action related to the project, now under construction at Fourth and George, remains before the courts.
In November 2012, Northern Development Initiative Trust began foreclosure proceedings against Commonwealth over the remainder of a loan issued to finance land assembly in the vicinity of WIDC.
Commonwealth president Dan McLaren has countered that NDIT misled Commonwealth with assurances it would purchase the land or find another buyer and has left the company with land worth significantly less than the price Commonwealth paid.
McLaren also alleges in an affidavit that Bell urged him to secure the entire 400 block of George Street to prevent speculation that would increase the cost of acquiring the land. The intent was to use the WIDC to anchor a downtown campus for UNBC.
The sides have since agreed to take the matter to a hearing before a B.C. Supreme Court Justice and on May 30, NDIT filed a reply denying Commonwealth's allegations, saying McLaren approached NDIT asking for a loan to purchase the lands.
"At all material times, it was clear that the only role NDIT would have would be that of lender," NDIT states in the reply.
As of early April, Commonwealth owed nearly $1.5 million in principle and interest, according to NDIT.
A court date for that case has not yet been set.
