The city of Baltimore is suing La Cité Development over $478,051 in unpaid water bills.
The lawsuit, filed Friday, alleges that the New York-based developer has not paid a water bill for its apartment complex in years.
La Cité is the firm behind an ambitious — and largely failed — redevelopment of Poppleton, a neighborhood in West Baltimore.
The firm’s only completed project, a 262-unit apartment complex made up of two buildings on North Schroeder Street, has struggled to retain residents, cycled through management companies, and failed to open any ground-floor retail.
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In recent years, the apartment complex also accumulated unpaid water bills, online records show.
According to the city’s lawsuit, La Cité has not paid a water bill at one of the buildings, 101 N. Schroeder St., since November 2022.
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Online records show La Cite’s other building, at 201 N. Schroeder, has an unpaid water bill of $296,673. Taken together, the apartment complex owes nearly $800,000 in unpaid water bills.
La Cité and its president, Dan Bythewood Jr., did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The lawsuit is the latest escalation of long simmering tensions between the city and La Cité. Emails previously reported by The Baltimore Banner revealed that unpaid water bills inflamed an already strained relationship — and contributed to the city’s decision last year to end La Cité’s future development rights in Poppleton
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City officials recently acknowledged the developer still controls several acres of vacant, city-owned land in Poppleton.
The Baltimore Brew first reported the lawsuit.
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