Settling his legal disputes with a Kansas City-based project partner, developer Louis R. Cappelli has swapped his interest in the New Roc City entertainment retail center in New Rochelle for sole ownership of City Center in White Plains.
The out-of-court settlement, announced Friday by the Valhalla-based developer and Entertainment Properties Trust in Missouri, also ends the former partners”™ court battles over financing for the stalled Concord hotel and casino project in Sullivan County.
Cappelli was freed from repaying a $133.1 million loan that EPT claimed it was owed for the Concord project in exchange for transferring to EPT the 1,500-acre resort property that adjoins the planned casino development site. The developer retains control of that approximately 200-acre property.
EPT, a publicly traded real estate investment trust, also gave up its claims against Cappelli for $30 million in unpaid loans related to his New Rochelle and White Plains projects, in exchange for which Cappelli”™s Concord company agreed to pay the REIT up to $15 million from its future cash income as a minority owner in the casino.
EPT also agreed to finance $30 million of the mortgage construction loan for the estimated $600 million Concord project if Cappelli nails down a $100 million equity investment in the project by a major gaming company.
In Westchester, Cappelli will give up interest in New Roc City for all of EPT”™s debt and equity interests in City Center in White Plains. EPT officers last month said the City Center debt totaled $118.2 million, of which $112.5 million is due to mature in October. EPT took on $3.7 million in cash payments and assumed liabilities in the swap, the company reported.
EPT had a 70 percent ownership stake and Cappelli 30 percent at both New Roc City and City center.
Stock in Entertainment Properties Trust, listed as EPR on the New York Stock Exchange, closed at $42.38 per share Friday before the settlement was announced.
