A lawsuit challenging a 19-year-old land deal between Baltimore and a controversial developer had a pivotal hearing Wednesday, though there was little indication when — or how — the judge might rule.
Residents of Poppleton filed a federal lawsuit last year against numerous defendants tied to the failed redevelopment of their West Baltimore neighborhood.
Wednesday’s hearing was the first hurdle for that lawsuit, which seeks to end the 2006 land deal and recoup possible damages.
Attorneys for the defendants — including La Cité Development, the city of Baltimore, Baltimore’s housing authority, and individual current and former city officials — each took turns asking the judge to dismiss the case.
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A major sticking point is whether the residents have standing to bring this lawsuit. None of the residents live or own property in the current development footprint. They all live next to or near it.
The city tried to take the home of Sonia Eaddy, a plaintiff and president of the Poppleton neighborhood association, but instead in 2022 removed her property from the 13.8-acre footprint. Out of more than 500 parcels, Eaddy was the only property owner who got to keep her home.
The defendants’ attorneys said Eaddy and her neighbors had not been harmed by eminent domain or the stalled redevelopment of their neighborhood because the city never physically took their homes.
In response, attorneys for the residents told the judge to look around Poppleton. See the vacant lots, overgrown weeds and blight that surrounds them. The attorneys said the failed redevelopment has clearly harmed the property values of these residents.
Another legal issue in the case is whether the city’s use of eminent domain was constitutional.
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The government has broad power to take private property when it is for the good of the public, an idea that’s been reaffirmed multiple times by the U.S. Supreme Court.
But Poppleton residents argue that what happened in their neighborhood is different. They say there was no public benefit, and that the redevelopment was meant as a way for La Cité to enrich itself.
Their lawsuit cites reporting from The Baltimore Banner that found that the city picked La Cité — a relatively inexperienced developer with no track record of large projects — despite multiple warnings from residents and city employees.
In 2003, La Cité Development approached Baltimore officials about redeveloping a large portion of Poppleton, which kicked off a public bidding process.
During the selection process, La Cité was on the cusp of losing the bid when then-City Council President Sheila Dixon was featured in Essence magazine and enjoyed two days of “pampering and primping” in New York. The editorial director of Essence was a founding partner and investor in La Cité, and city officials flipped their recommendation to La Cité shortly thereafter.
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Dixon’s attorney, Zoe Rydzewski, told the judge that there is no proof of any quid pro quo. Any connection between the magazine and the selection is speculative, Rydzewski said.
The attorney for the residents, Tom Prevas, said that’s what discovery is for. There is smoke, Prevas told the judge, so the case must proceed to determine whether there is fire.
As Prevas spoke, his voice grew louder. He stopped referring to his notes and began speaking directly to the judge about the conditions in Poppleton.
Prevas stood about 10 feet in front of Dan Bythewood Jr., the president of La Cité, in the first row of the gallery. Bythewood sat with his arms crossed as Prevas lambasted his track record as a developer.
“They’re holding the city hostage,” Prevas said.
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After two decades of work, La Cité has only completed a single apartment complex made up of two buildings. It is first subphase of what was originally supposed to be a four-phase overhaul of Poppleton and represents just 8% of what La Cité intended to build.
Along the way, the development team was paid millions of dollars in “overhead” costs, lost another subphase of the project to an investor, and dramatically scaled back its vision for the neighborhood.
The city cancelled its contract with La Cité last year, but officials recently conceded that the developer still controls much of the city-owned land in Poppleton.
Meanwhile, La Cité is struggling to find tenants — residents and businesses — for its lone apartment complex. A long-promised grocery store never opened, and, La Cité has filed 16 eviction lawsuits against residents this year.
In its motion to dismiss the lawsuit, La Cité defended what it had built, largely blaming the Great Recession and the city for delays in financing and construction.
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“None of this is a pipe dream. This is a realistic vision for a more prosperous Poppleton, and an achievable goal Developer has pledged thousands of hours and millions of dollars to pursue,” the developer said in the filing.
The lawsuit brought by Poppleton residents was only further stalling that redevelopment, La Cité’s attorney Anthony Phillips said at Wednesday’s hearing.
After two hours of back-and-forth, the hearing ended, with no indication from Judge Adam Abelson on when he will issue a ruling.
Bythewood and La Cité’s vice president, Ian Arias, left without addressing the media.
Outside the courtroom, Yvonne Gunn, whose family has lived in Poppleton for a century, said the only thing she can do now is hope. Eaddy said the lawsuit was a last resort for Poppleton, where residents have beseeched the city for years to do something about the land deal.
“We were tired of being disrespected and disregarded,” Eaddy said. “We tried everything we could do.”
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