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The fight over the fate of CentrePointe, the long-delayed development project that has left a city block-wide crater in the heart of downtown, goes on -- for a couple more weeks at least.
After weeks of silence about whether it planned to make good on today's threatened deadline to invoke a fill-in order or other action at the site, the city late Wednesday issued a statement that in effect says it is keeping its powder dry while pointing to yet another deadline.
April 14, 2016
"The city’s legal agreement with the Webb Companies remains in place. That contract allows us to demand that the company fill in the hole. But it does not require us to do so," Mayor Jim Gray's spokeswoman, Susan Straub, said in a statement. "The company has been granted a building permit extension up through , to allow work to continue on the garage."
A requests for more information about the new deadline was not immediately returned.
The city had warned it could take action after the March 30 deadline, but the only activity Wednesday at the site was being done by The Webb Cos.
“I’m not sure that (deadline) exists anymore,” Dudley Webb,
the local developer and chairman of The Webb Cos.,
told Business Lexington on Wednesday morning. “That’s behind us. We’re proceeding with construction just as we announced.”
The city, meanwhile, has refused to comment on its plans.
Webb has been locked in a high-stakes game of chicken over the project, with the city warning it could enforce a fill-in order on March 30 as part of a restoration agreement. The company, however, never agreed it has been out of compliance and insists work is going forward at the site, which has stood empty since 2008.
Webb said Wednesday that construction workers were working on one of the parking garage’s columns and were scheduled to pour concrete later in the day.
“Things are going according to plan,” he said.
He said the garage would take eight to 10 months to complete, after which construction would begin on the mixed-use development.
Webb said he had not heard from the city.
“We have had no contact with them about this,” he said. “We are proceeding with construction just as we have every right to do.”
Webb says he already has spent $28 million on the project and that when completed the total investment will rise to $180 million. As for the financing of CentrePointe, which has been a key stumbling block and a sore point with critics of the project, Webb has remained cagey and defiant.
“I’m not going to tell you that. That’s not relevant at this time,” Webb told Business Lexington recently. “It’s all a private development, and everybody needs to understand that.”
But financing remains a main point of contention. Webb criticized city officials for making public comments about the use of tax money. Webb insists that there is no public money in the deal. However, he cites the city’s refusal to issue bonds to finance the garage portion of the project as devastating to the overall project.
Last year, the city began making moves to pursue the fill-in order. By late summer new developers -- Kentuckian Matt Collins, along with New York development company Bridgeton Holdings -- were offering to build a new government center as part of the CentrePointe development.
“It was not the best use of that prime property,” said Webb. “It wouldn’t generate the taxes a private property would bring but at least it was a good use and it could be an iconic building.”
But the city hall idea was abandoned last month and everything funneled back to Webb and his latest plans for the site. Since Webb announced the project was moving forward, workers have been spotted at the site but it’s unclear exactly what was being done.
Webb for his part betrays no room for talk of fill-ins, take-overs or further delays.
“It’s our money, on our property, and the key is that it’s now ready to go,” he stated.