Lawsuit filed in Disney housing project

Lawsuit filed in Disney housing project

	Published : Wed, 31 Oct 2007 22:39 By : Agencies Print this Story

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) - The housing deal at the heart of a bitter feud between the Walt Disney Co. and Anaheim over the future of the city's Resort District is apparently falling apart.

Developer SunCal filed a lawsuit last week in Orange County Superior Court, alleging the property owner reneged on a $46 million contract. Frank Family Partnership, owners of the 26 acres where SunCal wants to build 1,500 homes, says the developer just walked away.

The project instigated a massive campaign by Disney to stop new homes from going up near its theme parks.

SunCal's suit filed in Orange County Superior Court contends the Frank Family Partnership conspired with unnamed third parties to kill the deal signed in April 2005.

Frank Family Partnership attorney Ed Connor says the property owners extended the close of escrow eight times.

SunCal is asking for $60 million in damages.

Voters were going to decide on the fate of the project in a referendum next June, but the lawsuit means that fate could now be decided in the courtroom.

'The Frank Family Partnership is apparently blowing off a $46 million deal,' claimed SunCal attorney Skip Miller. 'We are a very good buyer. We have zoning approval and we are anticipating project approval. But all of a sudden, they just walk away?'

Attorneys for the partnership said it was SunCal that turned its back on the deal, signed in April 2005, by failing to pay $500,000 to extend a deadline to purchase the land.

'We were absolutely stunned,' said Ed Connor, attorney for the partnership.

Disney opposes SunCal's plan to build the condominiums, including 225 low-income units, within the city's resort district. The company said changing the zoning would destroy the tourism-only district, which generates half of Anaheim's annual revenue.

Housing advocates contend that low-cost units are desperately needed by workers who are essential to the city's huge tourism industry but can't afford to live nearby.