Developer Files Suit Against D.C. Government

Developer Herbert S. Miller filed a $40 million lawsuit against the District government today alleging that the city improperly terminated an agreement to build a mix of shops, condominiums and parking garages adjacent to the new baseball stadium.

In his complaint filed in D.C. Superior Court, Miller said his company, Western Development Corp., was named by the city to construct the mixed-use development on city land just north of the stadium, located near South Capitol Street and the Navy Yard in Southeast Washington.

Mayor Anthony A. Williams (D) had once called Miller's proposal the crux of a ballpark entertainment district that would reap tax money for the city and offset the investment of $611 million in public funds for the stadium project. But Miller's plan died in September when he and the D.C. Sports and Entertainment Commission failed to reach terms on how the project would be financed.

Miller said in an interview today that he has the financing. But he charged that the sports commission was more interested in satisfying the interests of the Washington Nationals ownership group, headed by Bethesda developer Theodore N. Lerner, which objected to the project.

The commission "worked actively and fervently to placate the Owner by undermining WDC's ability to exercise its exclusive rights," the lawsuit states.

Miller said he has spent $6 million at the request of the city to develop his mixed-use project and will lose out on tens of millions more if he is not able to build it. He is seeking a permanent injunction from Judge Natalia Combs Greene, to whom the case was referred, that would block anything from being developed at the site until he is allowed to resume his plans.

The D.C. Council is scheduled to vote tomorrow on a new plan that would build free-standing parking garages with no additional development. Mayor-elect Adrian M. Fenty (D) said today that he believes the new plan will receive the nine votes it needs from the 13-member council to be approved.

"We now have Fenty rolling with the tide and as soon as the garages are built, we won't ever see retail or residential development, which was the whole point of locating the stadium at that site in the first place," said S. Scott Morrison, a lawyer who is representing Miller.

The D.C. attorney general's office did not immediately respond to a message left with a spokeswoman. The team and sports commission could not be reached immediately for comment.