A lawsuit over construction delays at a multi-million dollar St. Petersburg redevelopment project was pulled from Pinellas County Circuit Court on Friday.
Backstreets Capital withdrew a lawsuit it had filed against Ellison Development and its CEO Casey Ellison over The Central, a mixed-use project being built on the site of the former St. Petersburg Police Department headquarters. Ellison is the lead developer and Backstreets is one of several minority partners.
In the initial complaint, Backstreets accused Ellison of delaying construction at the project, potentially putting them in violation of their development agreement with the City of St. Petersburg.
Will Conroy, founder and CEO of Backstreets, said in a statement that he learned via media coverage of the case that the agreement with the city had been amended to extend construction timelines.
“The fact that we did not hear about this directly from our business partner says a great deal,” Conroy said. “However, the Fourth Amendment addresses our primary concern about the significant construction delays in the project. At this time, we have concluded that it is prudent to pause and study this new information before moving ahead.”
In a statement, Ellison said that he was pleased the issue had been resolved. “We always knew the allegations were untrue and that the lawsuit was without merit,” he said. “We look forward to moving forward on this exciting development that will help ensure downtown St. Petersburg continues to be a vibrant destination for residents and visitors alike.”
The two developers are still suing each other over issues at The Nolen, a condo near Beach Drive that they worked on together.
Backstreets and DDA Development were co-developers on that project. They hired Ellison Construction as the general contractor.
DDA-126 LLC, the joint company that Backstreets and DDA Development formed to oversee The Nolen, sued Ellison Construction in February, claiming it was responsible for several construction delays.
Ellison fired back with its own complaint last month, claiming DDA-126 LLC withheld payment.
Since then, a subcontractor on the project, Arch Tile, has filed its own claim against DDA-126 LLC over missed payments.
A spokesperson for Ellison Construction said it still has not been paid in full and has been unable to pay several subcontractors.
That means more complaints from other subcontractors could be filed in the coming months.
Conroy and Ellison are also competing against each other for the chance to redevelop the Tropicana Field site. The two developers have backed opposing bids to the city outlining different visions for the coveted 86-acre property.
