Syracuse, N.Y. — An appeals court has upheld a judge’s dismissal of Mayor Stephanie Miner’s lawsuit against Cor Development over the property tax deal the company got for its $342 million Syracuse Inner Harbor project.
The Appellate Division of state Supreme Court in Rochester unanimously dismissed on Friday the city’s appeal of Judge James Murphy’s year-old order.
Miner sued Cor on Dec. 15, 2015, alleging the Fayetteville-based developer broke a promise to the city not to seek tax exemptions for its construction of hotels, apartments, and retail and office buildings at the harbor. She filed the lawsuit just hours after the Onondaga County Industrial Development Agency approved tax exemptions that will be worth an estimated $44.6 million to the developer.
The city agreed in 2012 to sell the land at the harbor to Cor but had no control over the tax deal approved by the county agency. It appealed an intermediate order from Murphy rejecting the portion of the lawsuit that sought return of the land. The city did not appeal Murphy’s final order, which ruled that the city failed to prove that Cor made any promise regarding tax exemptions and dismissed the city’s lawsuit in its entirety.
The five-judge appellate court panel ruled that the city’s right to appeal Murphy’s intermediate order ended when Murphy issued his final order.
Alex Marion, a spokesman for Miner, said Monday the city is reviewing its options in light of the appeals court decision. A Cor representative declined to comment on the decision.
Most of the land around the harbor has been transferred to Cor, except for a parcel along Solar Street on the east side of the harbor. The city has been refusing to sell that parcel, citing its pending appeal of Murphy’s intermediate order. Cor is suing the city over the refusal, saying the city is breaking its 2012 sales agreement.
Cor executives Steven Aiello and Joseph Gerardi are facing felony charges in U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara’s probe of alleged corruption and bid-rigging in connection with state-funded development projects. The charges are not related to the Inner Harbor project, and Cor has vowed to continue with the project while Aiello and Gerardi fight the charges.
Appeals Court Decision by rickmoriarty on Scribd
Source: www.syracuse.com
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