Local developers who won a $148 million contract to build a business park at Yampa Valley Regional Airport near Steamboat Springs are resolving their deadlock.
“The parties are working amicably,” says Eric Jonsen, a lawyer for Wiens Real Estate Ventures.
Wiens, a Broomfield company whose owners also control FirsTier Bank, is the 89% owner of HDN Hangars Investment Group, a partnership with Centennial-based Business Aviation Group. The two joined forces to build 57,600 square feet of private jet hangars at the airport.
That Phase I project wrapped up in February, according to Routt County. The two heated hangars are already leased to Desert Jet, a California-based company.
“HDN Hangars Investment Group LLC was also selected as the successful bidder for the Phase II development,” said county spokeswoman Amanda Shepherd.
The backstory of that successful $148.3 million bid was spelled out in a June 29 lawsuit.
Business Aviation Group says it told Wiens last year that it had no interest in the Phase II job and did not consent to Wiens using their joint venture, HDN, for the project. And yet, Wiens submitted a bid on behalf of HDN anyway — the winning bid. So, Business Aviation Group sued.
That lawsuit claimed that the joint venture was deadlocked, triggering a buy-sell provision that would allow Business Aviation Group to purchase Wiens’ shares for $28 million. The Centennial firm also asked a Broomfield judge to make Wiens turn over HDN’s company files.
But just two days after the lawsuit was filed, on July 1, the case was settled.
Jonsen and a lawyer for Business Aviation Group, Shara Frase, declined to discuss it.
