Developer seeks $1.2M in court costs in Parker lands legal battle

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This article was published 05/09/2023 (794 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A real estate developer recently awarded $5 million in damages — due to a ruling two City of Winnipeg officials deliberately delayed a construction project — is seeking up to $1.2 million more to cover court costs.

Meanwhile, the city is asking a judge to stay, or effectively pause, the payment process, pending the outcome of an appeal.

In a July 6 judgment, Manitoba Court of King’s Bench Justice Shauna McCarthy found former chief planner Braden Smith and senior city planner Michael Robinson liable for “misfeasance in public office,” and deemed the City of Winnipeg to be vicariously liable for the delay.

The finding relates to a long-standing allegation from Gem Equities owner Andrew Marquess over stalled progress on the Fulton Grove development at the former Parker lands.

Last week, the city announced it will appeal the ruling.

In court Tuesday, Marquess’s lawyer said his team has billed more than $1.2 million in legal fees, and called on the court to have the city pay up to that amount, coupled with a 4.75 per cent prejudgment interest rate instead of two per cent.

Hill also suggested the interest date to 2015, instead of 2018, when the legal challenge was raised.

“You can go back to where the cause of action arose, which our evidence said started in 2015,” Hill said in an interview after the hearing.

However, a city representative told the court allowing any damages to be collected before the appeal concludes could lead to financial losses for the municipal government, should it win the appeal.

“There’s no evidence before the court that once the money is paid into the shell corporations… that we’ll ever get that money back,” said Nicole Beasse, a lawyer for the city.

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Beasse also stated a stay of the judgment would have no impact on the progress of the development itself.

Fulton Grove proposes to add 1,918 housing units on 47 acres of south Winnipeg land bordered by the CN Railway Rivers line and southwest rapid transitway.

McCarthy reserved her decision Tuesday, noting she expects to release a written decision soon.

joyanne.pursaga@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @joyanne_pursaga

Joyanne Pursaga
Reporter

Joyanne is city hall reporter for the Winnipeg Free Press. A reporter since 2004, she began covering politics exclusively in 2012, writing on city hall and the Manitoba Legislature for the Winnipeg Sun before joining the Free Press in early 2020. Read more about Joyanne.

Every piece of reporting Joyanne produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.