GreenCity developers and ASM Global settle $1.5M suit

With legal disputes over the failed $2.3 billion GreenCity development nearly resolved, Henrico County is preparing to move forward on reacquiring the former Best Products corporate headquarters campus where developers had formerly planned to build the mixed-use development and 17,000-seat arena.

On Friday, the GreenCity developers and the arena’s would-be operator, ASM Global, reached a settlement agreement in their $1.5 million legal dispute.

Announced in late 2020, GreenCity was supposed to be a sprawling, environmentally-friendly development anchored by an arena, all to be built on the county-owned former Best Products campus just off Interstate 95. The project was pitched to include two hotels, approximately 2.2 million square feet of office space, 280,000 square feet of retail space, 2,100 residential units, plus green space and plazas.

But GreenCity failed after its developers — Michael Hallmark of Los Angeles-based Future Cities and Susan Eastridge of Falls Church-based Concord Eastridge — were unable to make more than $5 million in overdue payments to Henrico by a March deadline.

The county initially said in March it would reacquire the property from the developers, a process anticipated to take about 30 days. However, the land transfer never occurred, and in April, the Henrico Economic Development Authority sued two LLCs linked to the GreenCity developers, trying to force them to convey the 93-acre disputed property back to the county.

According to the lawsuit, the EDA agreed to sell the 93 acres at the intersection of Interstate 95 and Parham Road to the developers in a November 2022 agreement for $6.2 million, and the sale took place on Feb. 28, 2023.

After paying the county $1 million in two installments on time in 2023, the developers failed to pay the remaining $5.2 million due Feb. 28, the complaint says. In March, the EDA sent a notice of default, giving the developers until March 13 to make the payment. When they failed to pay, the EDA notified Hallmark and Eastridge that the county would exercise its repurchase option of $1 million on April 15.

While that legal dispute was happening, the GreenCity developers faced legal trouble from another front. ASM Global, which was set to be the operator and manager of the GreenCity arena, sued the developers, saying that the developers owed an ASM subsidiary more than $1.5 million, including interest and attorney’s fees.

A Henrico County Circuit Court judge issued a summons to the EDA in April, seeking to garnish the $1 million repurchase fee. The developers filed a motion to vacate the judgment, and they’ve “refused to convey the property to the EDA … unless ASM agrees that the EDA may pay some or all of the repurchase price to [the developers] rather than to ASM,” Henrico said in its complaint.

ASM Attorney Jeff Miller confirmed to Virginia Business on Monday that ASM and GreenCity had settled their lawsuit. However, he declined to provide any further details, describing it as a “confidential resolution.”

County Attorney Andrew Newby wouldn’t comment on any of the terms of the ASM settlement. However, he said that Henrico County has reached an agreement with the GreenCity developers to repurchase the property, although he noted it hasn’t been signed yet.

“I’ll say that we’re pleased that we’re able to repurchase the property for that $1 million that we had originally agreed to,” Newby said. “We expect to close by Sept. 5, and we have a court date of Sept. 12 in case it doesn’t close as planned.”

Legal representatives for the developers could not be immediately reached.

The county released a new call for developers in May to submit plans for an arena-anchored development in place of the GreenCity development. Prospective developers were required to submit their plans by July 28.

Henrico’s board of supervisors is expected to approve a selected plan in December. After that, the 93-acre property would be conveyed to the winning development team in January 2026, with a 17,000-capacity arena expected to open in 2028.

Construction of residences on the adjoining 110 acres, known as Scott Farm, is set to start later this year, under the development of a Markel|Eagle Partners subsidiary, according to the county.