A lawsuit was filed in the 21st Judicial Circuit Court in St. Louis County against the St. Louis County Port Authority, its executive director Sheila Sweeney, St. Louis County, the County Council and Macy’s Retail Holdings, regarding the sale of properties at Jamestown Mall to the Port Authority.
The suit, filed on March 30 by plaintiffs Joshua Media Ministries International (JMMI), its president David E. Taylor and Michelle Brannon, claims prior to December 16, 2015, JMMI entered a purchase contract with Macy’s to buy its Jamestown store, which closed in 2014, for $1million.
The American reached out to parties involved in the dispute. The Port Authority stated it did not comment on pending lawsuits. Macy’s and JMMI did not respond.
The document states JMMI, which is based in Michigan, planned to create a religious center on the site – with further plans to redevelop the entire mall property with non-profit and other tax-exempt activities and programs. JMMI claims the county entities were against those plans, which was unbeknown to JMMI at the time.
JMMI alleges it was advised to seek the support and cooperation of then Councilman Mike O’Mara regarding zoning changes. In the suit, JMMI claims O’Mara’s staff suggested legal counsel it could employ to assist with zoning changes based on its planned use, and advised JMMI to contact the Port Authority regarding its intent to purchase the Macy’s property. The suit claims intentional interference by Sweeney to stop the deal.
“The closing of the sale was continuously and unreasonably delayed by O’Mara, Sweeney and the Port Authority’s failure to expeditiously rezone Macy’s to permit or allow the uses to which the Plaintiff JMMI intended,” the suit states. “Moreover, said delay also delayed financing of the purchase.”
After it received a letter of commitment to finance the project, JMMI said communications ceased with Sweeney, O’Mara, Macy’s and the Port Authority. The suit says sometime in September 2016, JMMI reps saw news reports that the Jamestown Macy’s had been sold to the Port Authority for one dollar.
JMMI suit describes a similar outcome when it went it tried to negotiate purchase the former Dillard’s department store at Jamestown Mall. The suit alleges that Sweeney defamed them by falsely saying they did not have the funds/financing to purchase the property, to make the property available for the Port Authority to purchase it.
In the 57-page court document, JMMI claims tortious interference by the Port Authority and by Sweeney in its expected business with Macy’s and Dillard’s, misrepresentations by the Port Authority and defamatory statements and intentional interference by Sweeney. It seeks at least $3 million in punitive damages and other compensation. It is seeking a jury trial.
The lawsuit further alleges the Port Authority is engaging in activities beyond its district boundaries set forth by law, and seeks an injunction to halt any of its activities beyond those boundaries, including the purchase of Jamestown Mall. It also wants the County repeal the 1978 ordinance that makes the Port Authority boundaries the same as the boundaries of St. Louis County and wants the County to enact an ordinance for port district boundaries that comply with Missouri law.
