CINCINNATI — The Ohio Supreme Court has ruled that The Port of Cincinnati, in addition to owing a developer $5 million for a breached contract, can be liable to also pay the developer prejudgement interest amid legal battles over the now-demolished Millennium Hotel.
The ruling was handed down Tuesday morning.
According to the court's ruling, The Port could be made to pay Vandercar LLC interest on $5 million already possibly owed, for the time spent in litigation over that initial sum. The decision reversed a lower court's decision that had determined prejudgement interest couldn't be imposed on The Port since it was "an arm/instrumentality of the state."
The state Supreme Court disagreed, ruling The Port of Cincinnati can be held liable for prejudgement interest.
Vandercar entered under contract to sell the Millennium Hotel to The Port of Cincinnati in 2019 for $36 million. Under the agreement, The Port would pay Vandercar $5 million in fees if The Port issued bonds to redevelop within a year of its acquisition of the 872-room hotel.
"The Port acquired the hotel and issued acquisition bonds, but it denied that the bonds were for redevelopment of the hotel, so it refused to pay the redevelopment fee," reads the Ohio Supreme Court decision.
As a result, Vandercar sued for breach of contract. A trial court found Vandercar was in the right, and ordered The Port to pay the $5 million fee — but denied Vandercar's motion for prejudgement interest.
Both Vandercar and The Port appealed the decision.
The Millennium Hotel closed in 2019 and it was demolished in March of 2022. Before closing on Dec. 31, 2019, the Millennium was Downtown's largest hotel and a go-to stay for convention visitors to the Tri-State, due to its proximity to the Duke Energy center.
Since its demolition, county officials have not been able to officially redevelop the lot; renovations on the Duke Energy Convention have already begun, but details about a replacement hotel have been limited.
In March 2023, one year after the Millennium Hotel's demolition, 3CDC announced it selected Portman Holdings, in Atlanta, to build a new hotel for the convention district surrounding the Duke Energy Center — but that hotel won't stand where the Millennium did.
Instead, the district's new hotel could be build on what is currently a parking lot across the street from the convention center.
Plans for the district also include $200 million worth of renovations and upgrades to the Duke Energy Convention Center. These would include rebuilding the facility’s main entrance, extending exhibit halls and building out outdoor space.
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