Newhall Land Sued for Breach of Contract

Newhall Land & Farming Co., which is developing a master-planned community twice the size of Manhattan, was sued for breach of contract and fraud over last month’s sale of its Chiquita Canyon Landfill.

Landfill Holdings/Chiquita Canyon LLC, which had been negotiating to buy the property for $90 million when Newhall sold it to the lessee, Republic Services of California, filed a complaint in Los Angeles County Superior Court seeking $200 million, plus punitive damages.

Newhall “fraudulently and negligently misrepresented various facts” and failed to keep promises with respect to the sale, Solana Beach-based Landfill Holdings said.

“They breached their agreement with us,” said Byron Georgiou, managing director of Landfill Holdings.

Valencia-based Newhall sold the landfill to Republic for $65 million in cash, settling a lawsuit brought by Republic disputing Newhall’s right to terminate its lease.

Landfill Holdings’ offer would have given Newhall $55 million and Republic $35 million, Georgiou said. Newhall got a “windfall profit” of $10 million by selling to Republic, he said.

Marlee Lauffer, a spokeswoman for Newhall, said the Landfill Holdings suit “has no merit.”