The parking lot at the heart of the dispute fronts West Clay Street between MacTavish and Highpoint avenues. (Mike Platania photos)
A legal spat centered on 51 parking spaces in Scott’s Addition is heading up the ladder of the Virginia court system.
Dalian Development has formally filed an appeal to try to reverse a Richmond Circuit Court ruling related to a lease dispute on a surface parking lot Dalian owns at 3210 W. Marshall St.
Dalian filed its appeal April 26, bringing the matter into the Court of Appeals of Virginia.
Based in Washington, D.C., Dalian is an apartment developer that bought the city block-sized former Party Perfect complex in Scott’s Addition in 2018. The $3.8 million deal included the surface lot that runs along West Clay Street between MacTavish and Highpoint avenues.
In 2021 Hem + Spire, a firm out of North Carolina, bought the mixed-use complex across the street from Dalian’s plot at 1300 MacTavish Ave. Hem + Spire’s deal included a lease on the Dalian-owned parking lot that runs through at least 2030.
According to court documents, Dalian tried to terminate the lease at the end of its current term to free up the entire city block for redevelopment. However, Hem + Spire argued that the verbiage in the lease gives it a right to renew in perpetuity.
The Court of Appeals of Virginia building at 109 N. Eighth St.
Dalian brought the issue into court in 2022 and in March of this year a Richmond Circuit judge ruled that while Hem + Spire’s lease is not perpetual, it does give the firm the right renew for an additional 10 years at the end of its current term, potentially precluding the plot from development until 2040.
That ruling did not sit well with Dalian, which promptly filed a motion asking the court to reconsider its ruling. Court documents show that Richmond Circuit Judge Richard B. Campbell, who presided over the case, did not indulge Dalian’s request.
Dalian is now trying its luck with the state’s Court of Appeals.
The company is represented in the case by attorneys Alec Boyd, Allison Klena, Robert Vieth and John Walk of the Hirschler law firm. Roman Lifson, David Lacy and Grayson Cassada of Christian & Barton are representing Hem + Spire.
An initial hearing date has not been set in the appeals case.
Dalian, through its attorneys, declined to comment, as did Hem + Spire’s founding principal Maxwell Joseph.
Party Perfect, meanwhile, relocated its headquarters to the Highland Park area in 2021. Its old building in Scott’s Addition looks to be vacant.
Build a bigger parking structure to accommodate the new development, rent it back and then when the lease expires in 2030, triple the rent cost. H+S will back out and Dalian can rent out the newly vacant spots to a more progressive and responsible corporate neighbor.