Creekstone Companies is back in Baton Rouge federal court in another financial dispute over Juban Crossing, the $350 million, 471-acre shopping development off Interstate 12 in Livingston Parish.
The case involves a $6.9 million promissory note Creekstone signed to remove a lien Associated Concrete Contractors of Texas placed on the property over unpaid work. Shortly after its settlement with Creekstone, ACC in October 2013 transferred the promissory note to another Texas company called Associated Renters. According to court documents, Creekstone paid an initial installment of $1.5 million on the note in November 2013, but missed a second installment due in December 2014. The terms of the settlement call for Creekstone to pay $6.9 million plus 18% interest in four annual installments through December 2016.
Court documents indicate the note is secured by second mortgage positions on the first and second phases on Juban Crossing Development, “second only to lending institutions and/or bondholders.”
In response to the allegations, Creekstone attorney Scott Frazier admits that Creekstone/Juban signed the mortgage, but alleges that ACC’s “billings were improper and/or otherwise excessive and grossly misrepresented the quantity of work actually performed” and that the company “failed to disclose and/or otherwise properly document the true value of the site work it performed.”
However, in a motion for summary judgment filed with U.S. District Judge John deGravelles Monday, Denham Springs attorney Shelby Easterly III, who is representing Associated Renters, cites a letter of agreement indicating that Creekstone/Juban and its partners “relinquish any standing or right to dispute the validity of the lien filed by ACC.”
After years of delays, Juban Crossing opened in the fall of 2014 with major retailers like Academy Sports, Belk, Rouses, Bed Bath & Beyond, Old Navy and Michaels. Construction is well underway on a Movie Tavern, with a Walk-On’s Bistreaux & Bar and Stroubes set to follow, as well as several new retailers.
—Penny Font
