San Diego
Developer Doug Manchester’s $130-million lawsuit against the San Diego Unified Port District for delays in completing the Convention Center was settled Tuesday when the Board of Port Commissioners agreed to pay him $11.3 million.
After meeting in a closed-door session, the board announced it had unanimously voted to settle the lawsuit as the result of negotiations through a court-appointed mediator.
Manchester, through his development companies Pacific Landmark Hotel Ltd. and Pacific Gateway Ltd., had sued the Port District, builders of the $160-million bayside Convention Center, which opened last November, two years late.
Under contract to the port, Manchester built the adjacent San Diego Marriott Hotel and Marina. Its construction in part was contingent on an early opening of the Convention Center, from which it was to draw business.
Instead, the hotel opened and struggled financially because, Manchester maintained, the Convention Center hadn’t been built.
“The settlement is in the best interests of all parties,” reads a portion of a prepared statement released by commissioners.
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