Larimer court vacates Centerra South trial dates

LOVELAND — Trial dates for the case that McWhinney Real Estate Services Inc. filed against the city of Loveland have been vacated at the request of the parties.

In a status conference today before District Court Judge Michelle Brinegar, the parties said a “change of circumstances” — the Loveland City Council’s decision early Wednesday to roll back its earlier rescission of the Centerra South decision — has prompted the parties to enter negotiations.

“The parties have agreed to settlement negotiations,” said McWhinney attorney Christopher Murray of the law firm Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck LLP. He and city of Loveland attorney Angela Vichick of Lewis Roca Rothgerber Christie LLP both asked that the judge vacate the Feb. 29 and March 1 trial dates previously set in the case.

“We also ask that you withhold actions on motions for summary judgment until at least March 19,” Murray said, to enable the parties to negotiate a settlement.

Judge Brinegar said she would conduct an “internal review” on March 19 and asked that Murray submit a status report “between now and March 19 on how you wish to proceed.”

McWhinney had filed suit against the city in November 2023 after a newly constituted City Council attempted to roll back decisions that the prior council made in May 2023 to authorize the Centerra South Urban Renewal Area and master finance agreement. McWhinney claimed breach of contract.

The city in its response to the lawsuit claimed that the URA did not exist because the city had failed to give proper notice of a public hearing, and therefore there was no contract to breach.

The parties agreed on the facts but not on the law that applied to the situation. It asked the court in summary-judgment motions to rule on their behalf. 

As trial dates approached, members of the city defense team met in executive session with the City Council for two hours Tuesday night and into Wednesday morning. The council emerged at 2 a.m. and voted to restore the actions it had taken in May 2023 and roll back the post-election rescission. 

A reason wasn’t given, except that the change of heart was in the best interests of the city in avoiding ongoing litigation and its related legal costs.

The district court case is McWhinney Real Estate Services, et al, versus city of Loveland, case number 2023cv30956 filed in Larimer County District Court.

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