$2B Wharf Project Facing Lawsuit, Injunction from Fish Market
The owner of three businesses at the Maine Avenue Fish Market is suing Hoffman-Madison Waterfront and the DC government, claiming The Wharf development is violating his leases and on the verge of putting him out of business.
This week, lawyers for Sonny White—who owns Captain White's Seafood City and two other entities at the market—filed a preliminary injunction in federal court, trying to get a judge to force the JV of PN Hoffman and Madison Marquette to stop any work that encroaches on the fish market, including placing temporary construction equipment in the parking lot. If the judge grants the injunction, it could seriously delay the $2B mixed-use project, and throw the future of DC’s biggest construction project into doubt.
“We are sensitive to ongoing business at the Fish Market, as well as its historical significance, and we have taken great lengths to incorporate both the history and existing operators into our future plans,” Monty Hoffman said in a statement responding to the suit. “We expect the operators to remain and be vibrant pillars of the community as we redevelop along with all of the waterfront for years to come.” Monty won the bid for redeveloping the Southwest Waterfront in 2006, and since has been working tirelessly to turn it into DC’s next hot neighborhood.
That includes plans for the fish market, where he plans to put in a rum distillery, a pavilion and new piers, and keep the fish vendors right where they’ve been for two centuries. Two other vendors operate businesses in the fish market, and they're not suing. Their attorney, Eric Rome, said they “have enjoyed a good working relationship with the developer at The Wharf during this unavoidably difficult time of transition. During this period, the developer has worked with the Fish Market operators in an effort to minimize the inevitable disruption brought on by a project of the scale of The Wharf which, upon completion, we believe will be in the best interest of all stakeholders.”
The plantiff doesn’t see it that way. Represented by Wendell Taylor and Jonathan Lasken, attorneys for Hunton & Williams, Sonny White says “the redevelopment is trying to…throw us out onto the street. It isn’t right.” The complaint alleges that, starting last year, Hoffman-Madison “embarked upon a pattern of harassment and illegal conduct,” and sent "wrongful eviction notices" to the businesses in question. The goal, the complaint states, was to drive them "out of business" in order to annex the fish market into The Wharf. The Washington Business Journal reported that, while announcing his redevelopment plans for the market last month, Monty “said it has essentially been annexed.”
It’s hard to tell how serious of a roadblock this could be for the development that plans to finish Phase 1—and the revamped market—in 2017. Judd Lifschitz (snapped next to Jacques Cohen at a Bisnow event earlier this summer), a partner at Shapiro, Lifschitz & Schram, told us today “much depends on what’s in the lease and what the facts are when proven.” Considering the owner's claim his businesses will be sunk if work continues, it’s reasonable to expect a judge to rule on the injunction within the next few months. “The reality is they’re going to be hurting for a long period of time here until the development is finished,” Judd says. “How they survive between today and when the developer puts them back in business, that’s a very real and practical problem.” The lawsuit could also be a means to a settlement for more favorable lease terms or compensation. Either way, whenever this suit hits the court, lots of eyes will be watching it.
