NHL Hall of Famer Pat LaFontaine and his business partner are suing executives from JLL, accusing them of icing the pair out of payment due for work on a Long Island mixed-use project.
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LaFontaine, a former New York Islanders center, and business partner Steve D’Iorio allege they were left financially stranded by two partners from JLL for their portion of work on the $2.8B Midway Crossing redevelopment in Ronkonkoma, Long Island, Newsday first reported.
In a complaint filed in New York Supreme Court, LaFontaine and D'Iorio allege JLL Vice Chairman Derek Trulson and NYC Office Managing Director Michael Shenot were “unjustly benefitted and ... enriched” by their efforts over three years to bring investors and tenants into the initial phase of Midway Crossing.
LaFontaine and his Tide Line LLC seek more than $1.3M in compensation, while D’Iorio is suing for just under $1.1M, according to Long Island Business News.
The project scored LaFontaine as a consultant tasked with finding a minor league team to anchor a 180K SF sports and entertainment center, Long Island Business News reported. LaFontaine was also given responsibility for promoting it as a venue for collegiate and youth sports teams.
But plans for that center were scrapped in 2022, and LaFontaine and D'Iorio allege they were cut out of the deal. They claim the JLL execs stopped all communication, leaving them high and dry.
“We’ve asked them a hundred times to get in a room and discuss what the disagreement is … so we’re really not sure what’s going on at that side of the table,” D’lorio told Newsday.
Over three years, the plaintiffs said they worked to find investors and tenants, alleging JLL execs skipped out just before developers responded to community pushback on the sports center plan. New plans for Midway Crossing call for a convention center, about 2M SF of life sciences and biotechnology research space, a hotel and 30K SF of retail.
Shenot left JLL last month and is now the general manager for Washington, D.C.'s Union Station, a LinkedIn profile shows. Trulson couldn't be reached for comment.
