Developer of Calder Race Course Site Named in Lawsuit
South Florida developer David C. Metalonis has sued EastGroup Properties, the developer who bought a Miami Gardens tract with plans for warehouse space and commerce center.
November 16, 2017 at 03:29 PM
8 minute read
A Jackson, Mississippi, real estate investment trust has embarked on its first venture in Miami-Dade County — and already there's bad blood with a developer who claims he is a spurned partner.
EastGroup Properties Inc. plans to build an 850,000-square-foot warehouse and commerce center southwest of Florida's Turnpike and County Line Road, records show. The company bought the 55-acres, formerly the practice track and stables at Calder Casino & Race Course, in November 2016 for $26.5 million.
But developer David C. Metalonis said he introduced EastGroup to the site and revealed his plans for the well-placed acreage, but EastGroup went behind his back to buy the land and pursue the project Metalonis envisioned as a joint venture, according to a lawsuit filed Oct. 12 in Miami-Dade Circuit Court.
Alan Grunspan and Charles Throckmorton V of Carlton Fields in Miami filed the lawsuit on behalf of Metalonis, seeking more than $750,000 in damages. Metalonis is a former Colliers International South Florida senior vice president who formed his own development, acquisition and investment company, Metalonis & Partners LLC.
EastGroup executives did not respond to a request for comment by deadline.
The complaint said Metalonis started talks with the seller in August 2015, came up with a vision of how to rezone and develop the site, and started working to resolve business and legal issues for a purchase.
He negotiated with Churchill Downs Inc., which owns Calder as well as other casinos and racetracks in the U.S. He was looking at joint venture opportunities when a former business associate introduced him to EastGroup executives. Metalonis shared his ideas with the company, according to the complaint.
“I was introduced to EastGroup and was told they were professionals who I could trust. I introduced this outstanding joint venture opportunity to them, but they cut me out of the deal I had created, taking advantage of the endless work I had put in to develop this parcel,” Metalonis said in an emailed statement.
The two signed a nondisclosure agreement in April 2016 labeling EastGroup a potential partner, records show. The purchase deal between EastGroup and the seller was “very nearly” the same as the one Metalonis worked on, and the development plan reflected Metalonis' concept, according to the complaint.
The complaint alleging breach of nondisclosure agreement, tortious interference with a business relationship and unjust enrichment lists counts against EastGroup Properties, EastGroup Properties LP, EastGroup TRS Inc., president and chief executive officer Marshall A. Loeb and executive vice president John F. Coleman.
EastGroup has taken the first steps to build on the site, getting rezoning approval for the Gateway Commerce Park from the Miami Gardens City Council. The site is just off the Northwest 27th Avenue turnpike interchange about 16 miles from PortMiami and Port Everglades.
EastGroup is an industrial REIT with a portfolio of 38.5 million square feet.
Its other industrial properties in South Florida include the five building, 230,000-square-foot Blue Heron Distribution Center in Riviera Beach; the four-building, 209,000-square-foot Sample 95 Business Park in Pompano Beach; the three-building, 140,000-square-foot Executive Airport Distribution Center in Fort Lauderdale; and the three-building, 99,000-square-foot Linpro Commerce Center in Fort Lauderdale.
A Jackson, Mississippi, real estate investment trust has embarked on its first venture in Miami-Dade County — and already there's bad blood with a developer who claims he is a spurned partner.
EastGroup Properties Inc. plans to build an 850,000-square-foot warehouse and commerce center southwest of Florida's Turnpike and County Line Road, records show. The company bought the 55-acres, formerly the practice track and stables at Calder Casino & Race Course, in November 2016 for $26.5 million.
But developer David C. Metalonis said he introduced EastGroup to the site and revealed his plans for the well-placed acreage, but EastGroup went behind his back to buy the land and pursue the project Metalonis envisioned as a joint venture, according to a lawsuit filed Oct. 12 in Miami-Dade Circuit Court.
Alan Grunspan and Charles Throckmorton V of
EastGroup executives did not respond to a request for comment by deadline.
The complaint said Metalonis started talks with the seller in August 2015, came up with a vision of how to rezone and develop the site, and started working to resolve business and legal issues for a purchase.
He negotiated with Churchill Downs Inc., which owns Calder as well as other casinos and racetracks in the U.S. He was looking at joint venture opportunities when a former business associate introduced him to EastGroup executives. Metalonis shared his ideas with the company, according to the complaint.
“I was introduced to EastGroup and was told they were professionals who I could trust. I introduced this outstanding joint venture opportunity to them, but they cut me out of the deal I had created, taking advantage of the endless work I had put in to develop this parcel,” Metalonis said in an emailed statement.
The two signed a nondisclosure agreement in April 2016 labeling EastGroup a potential partner, records show. The purchase deal between EastGroup and the seller was “very nearly” the same as the one Metalonis worked on, and the development plan reflected Metalonis' concept, according to the complaint.
The complaint alleging breach of nondisclosure agreement, tortious interference with a business relationship and unjust enrichment lists counts against EastGroup Properties, EastGroup Properties LP, EastGroup TRS Inc., president and chief executive officer Marshall A. Loeb and executive vice president John F. Coleman.
EastGroup has taken the first steps to build on the site, getting rezoning approval for the Gateway Commerce Park from the Miami Gardens City Council. The site is just off the Northwest 27th Avenue turnpike interchange about 16 miles from PortMiami and Port Everglades.
EastGroup is an industrial REIT with a portfolio of 38.5 million square feet.
Its other industrial properties in South Florida include the five building, 230,000-square-foot Blue Heron Distribution Center in Riviera Beach; the four-building, 209,000-square-foot Sample 95 Business Park in Pompano Beach; the three-building, 140,000-square-foot Executive Airport Distribution Center in Fort Lauderdale; and the three-building, 99,000-square-foot Linpro Commerce Center in Fort Lauderdale.
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