THE WASHINGTON TIMES
A U.S. District judge has stalled plans to redevelop land one block from the Nationals new ballpark, granting a preliminary injunction to block Metro from turning over its bus garage at Half Street and M Street SE to Akridge, a prominent D.C. developer.
In issuing the injunction, Judge Emmet G. Sullivan ruled in favor of Monument Realty, which had argued that it already had reached an agreement with Metro to redevelop the garage. Sullivan said Monument would suffer “irreparable harm” if Metro were to proceed with its sale of the garage to Akridge.
Monument is already redeveloping land across from the bus garage, with plans for an office building, hotel and condos.
The origins of the dispute date to December 2005, when the Anacostia Waterfront Corporation announced that it had selected Monument as a “master developer” for the area around the new ballpark. The bus garage parcel was included in those plans. But talks to turn over the bus parcel to Monument collapsed, and Metro last year put the parcel out to bid, awarding it to Akridge.
With the injunction, Monument is now expected to challenge the sale to Akridge in an attempt to gain control of the site.
— Tim Lemke
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