U.S. District Judge Edward Shea told attorneys Tuesday he wants to schedule a hearing by early next month to evaluate the settlements before a fraud trial starts in April on some unresolved issues.
Shea, who signed orders preventing plaintiffs and defendants from suing each other to shift settlement costs, said details of the proposed settlements are complicated.
"There is almost no question that is not related to some other aspect of this case," he said.
The City Council last month approved agreements to settle a series of lawsuits that sprang from the $110 million downtown River Park Square redevelopment and its rebuilt parking garage.
Shea is presiding over federal lawsuits alleging fraud and misrepresentation in construction bonds. He must approve the agreements, as well as hear several remaining unsettled lawsuits.
If approved by Shea and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the deal would get the city out of the parking garage business, repay HUD block-grant funds and drop most legal claims. The mall developer would get the title to the garage.
River Park Square is owned by affiliates of Cowles Publishing Co., which publishes The Spokesman-Review newspaper.
The settlement calls for the city and the developer to drop legal claims against each other, without admitting fault, in federal and state courts.
The mall parking garage was built with a combination of public and private money and was to be backed by city parking meter revenues.
When garage revenues fell short of expectations, the council refused to spend the meter money. That prompted lawsuits in state court.
Investors who bought about $31 million in garage construction bonds filed lawsuits in federal court, alleging fraud and misrepresentation.
That complaint was partly settled when the city borrowed $33 million and bought back the bonds.
Shea said additional hearings are needed to determine just how much the proposed settlement is worth.
The total amount the city gets from settlements is important to the groups that are scheduled to go to trial in April.
If they lose and the jury awards damages, the value of the settlements could be subtracted from that judgment. The bigger the value of the settlement, the less the defendants could have to pay.
The city might also receive other benefits from the settlements, such as an improved bond rating.
The cases' complexity stems from the blend of public and private money used to build the parking garage, which is attached to City Hall by an elevated walkway.
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Information from: The Spokesman-Review, http://www.spokesmanreview.com