Reese has 30 days

Maitland City Council is one step away from terminating the Town Center development agreement.

Council on Monday unanimously declared the Town Center development agreement in default. If Maitland Downtown Property Owner LLC can’t cure the defaults within 30 days, City Council will vote to cancel the agreement in January.

It’s unlikely that developer Bob Reese will be able to satisfy the defaults, which include assembling property and building infrastructure.

This comes three years after Council approved the $400 million four-block pedestrian-friendly village meant to reshape the city’s downtown.

“We need to take action,” Mayor Doug Kinson said Monday night, “but we also need to be prudent in the action and direction we take after tonight.”

Kinson, who leaves office on Jan. 3, said Council needs to protect the land from being bought and parceled out. He said that even without a development agreement, Reese will be involved as a property owner.

“Whoever comes to the table, now it’s a different environment, but we still need that history that’s tied to Bob Reese to continue. It’s that history and commitment that’s important to stand the test of time,” he said.

Councilman Phil Bonus said he’s optimistic that there are other developers out there, and he didn’t rule out working with Reese or his partners on a new agreement.

“For many years, I’ve tried to bring us to this moment, frankly,” Bonus said. “I think it’s the step one takes in order to open doors I hope will open.”

Before the motion was made to officially start the termination process, the mayor opened up the floor for public comment, and for once, no resident approached the podium to discuss the subject.

The mayor also asked Reese if he wanted to speak. Reese, sitting in the seat nearest to the exit door, shook his head no.

Council was scheduled to meet on Dec. 9 with Harrell Hospitality Group, said to be Reese’s new joint venture partner. But that meeting was canceled.

“He (Reese) was hoping to see that partner come to table with funding to assemble the properties — that didn’t materialize,” Kinson said.

Termination costs city $61K

Also at the meeting, Council approved the more than $61,000 spent for a bankruptcy attorney to get the relief from stay in the Ch. 11 bankruptcy case, which Reese filed to stop a foreclosure sale of the former Winn-Dixie and Royal Plaza parcels.

The relief from stay, granted by the judge in October, allowed the Town Center development agreement to be pulled out of the bankruptcy case and terminated.

The expense angered some on Council.

“I’m shocked this bill is what it is for the work that was done,” Councilwoman Linda Frosch said. “I will never agree again to use this firm (Broad & Cassel).”

Bonus defended bankruptcy attorney Roy Kolbert, whom he knows personally.

“If it wasn’t for the relief from stay, we wouldn’t have been able to send the letter we just sent. … We got the service we asked for. Did I wish we hadn’t spent the money? Yeah, but we did.”