By Gordon Anderson | gordon@rantnc.com
Just a day after news broke that a developer who had been working for the better part of three years to revitalize an historic but dilapidated structure in downtown Sanford had been cut out of the process when the city quietly exercised a purchase option on the property, Sanford government announced its plans – complete with professional renderings – to develop the location as a “Sanford Central Green” concept that would stretch from Charlotte Avenue all the way to the current City Hall building on Weatherspoon Street.
In a press release issued Wednesday evening – a little more than 24 hours after The Rant first published developer Nick Jordan’s allegations that the city had purchased the property out from under him – city government issued a lengthy press release describing the Sanford Central Green concept as a move that would “transform the area for generations to come” and “a concept shaped through years of public input about how downtown could best serve our community.”
“With the anchors of the Sanford Agricultural Marketplace on one end and the Sanford Municipal Center on the other, the Sanford Central Green concept includes options for a mobility hub, facilities available for public use, and a greenway connector that follows Little Buffalo Creek – which will be restored to its natural path,” the release states. “The goal for this concept is to create a foundation for a variety of potential public uses, including festivals, public art displays, youth activities, and more. The concept also increases Sanford’s walkability, mitigates major flooding concerns, and lays the groundwork for continued improvements.”
Jordan has claimed the city seemingly worked to stymie his progress in working toward completing a development agreement that would allow him to purchase the property and develop it as a multi-use hub for office space and retail like breweries, restaurants, coffee shops, and more, as well as a possible depot for the upcoming S Line passenger rail that’s expected to pass through downtown Sanford.
On Thursday, Jordan’s legal team filed suit against the city alleging breach of contract and seeking to prevent the city from completing purchase of the property, the transfer of the property to Jordan, and damages to Jordan “in excess of $25,000” he’s spent making plans for the Singer Building.
“Nick Jordan has filed a lawsuit … because the City purposefully breached its agreement to allow Mr. Jordan to purchase the property known as the Singer Factory,” Will Gordon, one of the attorneys representing Jordan, said in a statement. “While Mr. Jordan did not want to pursue litigation, the City has forced litigation because it apparently issued a gag order on its council members and other City employees while it worked in secret to hastily purchase the Singer Factory in a matter of days. The full breadth of the City’s nefarious conduct will come out as the legal matter moves forward. However, Mr. Jordan simply looks forward to becoming the rightful owner of the Singer Factory so that revitalization efforts in downtown Sanford can begin.”
Jordan is the CEO and founder of Durham-based software development company Smashing Boxes, and told The Rant in November that he’d been looking for opportunities to get into commercial real estate in Sanford and found one in 2021 when he learned about the Singer Building. At the time, the city had an option to purchase the property, but Jordan convinced the city the same year to relinquish that option if he was able to complete a purchase and enter a development agreement. A memorandum of understanding was reached in May of 2021, but Jordan’s suit alleges the city “intentionally delay(ed)” his “efforts to finalize and execute developer agreement.”
The city didn’t comment to The Rant after its move to purchase the property, other than to cite threatened litigation and note that any claim brought forth would have “no merit.” Attempts on Friday to reach city government for comment on the new developments were unsuccessful, but officials have said in the past it’s the city’s policy not to comment on litigation.
Describing various funding sources for the Sanford Central Green project, the city’s press release notes a $33 million federal grant for which the state Department of Transportation has applied that would fund construction of a “mobility hub” – presumably a train station – on the property.
That $33 million grant is a large part of Jordan’s lawsuit.
While the city “was intentionally delaying providing and executing developer agreement … (it) was simultaneously preparing to apply for a grant to allow (the city) to develop the Property,” the lawsuit contends. “Upon information and belief, the grant would allow Defendant to develop the Property into a mixed-use commuter rail – the very same development Plaintiffs had been proposing for nearly two years.”
“It’s my understanding that the city was not required to own the property in order to receive this grant,” said former Lieutenant Governor Dennis Wicker, another attorney representing Jordan. “They could have leased it, and (Jordan) was willing to do that.”
Read the entire lawsuit here.
In addition to Gordon and Wicker, Jordan’s legal team consists of Kevin Foushee of the firm Post, Foushee & Gordon, as well as Jackson Wicker and Harrison Wicker of the Wicker Law Firm.
This is what happens when agree to buy a building that sits on the Railroad Company’s property. All you have to do is go to the county’s gis. You will see the building sitting on the railroad property and when you read legal description it will confirm the railroad owns 50 from the old center.
That puts up to 20 feet of the buildings on Railroad land, not Railroad ROW but Railroad land. Almost 8,000 sf of the buildings sit in the Railroad land. Did the developer know this?
How does a private developer ever establish a clear title on something like this so that he can then sell it to someone else? It seems to me that only the City, the County, the State State of NC, or the Seaboard Coastline Railroad can own this property, quiet the title and even then to use the building that is there will take an agreement with the Railroad or more likely they will demand a cut of the action.
Rant, good job keeping up on this story. There is much to unpack with this. It seems the city may be doing some shady business. Gag orders always stink of corruption. I am curious of the economic impacts of this venture. I would like to see a cost comparison between the two options. Private developer Vs. City purchase. Which one will negatively impact the tax payers the most? Which one will benefit the city economically the most?
Rant, please keep digging!!!! Pending litigation is NOT grounds for silence. The City owes the people a transparent explanation. That includes, more than pretty pictures of concepts. The Taxpayers need to see the Cost Benefit Analysis, and the proposed plans for who will get the contracts to do this project. Hiding behind the litigation argument does nothing but prevent the people that will be paying for this project from having all of the information they have been denied up to this point. The City has not presented their plans to the Tax Payers and has not had any form of public involvement. This all lends to questions of wrongdoing on behalf of the City.
You seem to have confused the parties and what their role is. It’s not the city’s job to cover up for the developer’s lack of due diligence or his lack of capacity to deal with the railroad. The future of the project with the developer as the initial owner was failure and a bigger ownership mess as lenders and other investors would be at the bankruptcy court, standing in line.