The city's plan to convert land adjacent to the Wood Innovation and Design Centre into a park should remain unaffected by ongoing litigation between Commonwealth Campus Corporation and two other organizations.
City spokesman Mike Kellett confirmed Thursday that all the land where the park is to be put into place is city-owned as is the land on which the WIDC building sits.
Commonwealth Campus owns the property immediately to the north of the WIDC building, at the corner of George St. and Fourth Ave., and at the corner of Dominion St. and Fourth Ave., where the Achillion restaurant is located.
Heartbreakers nightclub, at the corner of Dominion St. and Fifth Ave., is owned by Adriano Spoletini.
A tender to build the park is slated to be issued in May and the work is scheduled to be completed by the end of September.
Meanwhile, two legal actions involving the Commonwealth Campus Corporation remain before the courts - a foreclosure proceeding initiated by Northern Development Initiative Trust and a subsequent lawsuit filed by Commonwealth Campus against the BID Group of Companies.
According to court documents, the last development on either case occurred in January when NDIT applied for a court order to extend the amount of time it has to conduct an examination for discovery only to withdraw it shortly before a hearing on the matter was to be held.
As for the action against BID, there have been no filings since September 2014.
Reached Thursday, NDIT spokesman Joel McKay limited his comments to saying the matter remains before the courts and Commonwealth Campus principal Dan McLaren declined to comment on both the litigation and the park proposal because of the court actions.
NDIT is seeking recoup $1.65-million it loaned to Commonwealth Campus, largely to assemble land for the WDIC but also for development of the adjacent area.
When it first filed for foreclosure in November 2012, NDIT originally listed the amount owed at $1.45 million before interest owed but has since raised the total to $1.65 million with interest included. The loan originally totaled $2.9 million but about half was paid back before the proceeding was launched.
Commonwealth Campus subsequently filed a lawsuit against BID, claiming it reneged on a promise to buy land adjacent to the WIDC for $4.1 million. BID has replied that the transaction was subject to making the short list of proponents competing for the contract to construct the WIDC, which did not happen.
Commonwealth Campus 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 Campus to keep a $150,000 deposit and have BID pay damages for breach of contract.
