After the General Assembly failed to pass a bill dictating state policy on public-private partnerships, plaintiffs in the State Center lawsuit are moving forward with their case. An attorney for the group of Baltimore business owners who have been suing the state since December 2010 said the amended bill’s failure to gain passage was further validation for their case.
Read MoreThe O’Malley administration affirmed its support on Wednesday for a controversial public-private partnership bill that threatens pending litigation against the State Center development in downtown Baltimore.
Read MoreThe state fired back at the Baltimore property owners who have sued to stop the $1.5 billion State Center project, filing a countersuit on Friday demanding hundreds of thousands of dollars that delays in the project are costing the state. The countersuit states that the group of property owners – who collectively call themselves the Coalition to Save Downtown Baltimore – filed their initial lawsuit in December because they “cannot compete” with the State Center project.
Read MoreQuestioning the practicality of “undertaking a commercial real estate venture of this magnitude in the midst of the worst economic climate since the Great Depression,” Comptroller Peter Franchot has joined the chorus of voices objecting to the $1.5 billion State Center project in midtown Baltimore.
Franchot wrote a letter to General Services Secretary Alvin Collins and Transportation Secretary Beverley Swaim-Staley saying he’s concerned about the economic impact – both on the government’s coffers and on taxpayers – of moving forward with the project right now.
The first part of the public-private partnership State Center project in Baltimore represents a $127 million giveaway of taxpayer dollars with more on the way, according to a new report from the Maryland Public Policy Institute and the Maryland Tax Education Foundation.
Read MoreA group of downtown Baltimore property owners accusing the state of circumventing the state’s procurement laws to award contracts for the $1.5 billion State Center development project is broadening their complaint to question the award of $33 million in state bonds to build a parking garage on site.
Read MoreThe $33 million state debt burden for the State Center parking garage, as well as the absence of a formal agreement on labor costs or local hiring, led Comptroller Peter Franchot to vote against approving the parking garage lease agreement at Wednesday’s Board of Public Works meeting.
The lease agreement was ultimately approved, with the board’s other two members Gov. Martin O’Malley and Treasurer Nancy Kopp voting for it.
Read More
Recent Comments