By Tom Hays The Washington PostA construction lender says in a letter to a local developer that it won´t build on the Capitol grounds and won´s be seeking a court order to stop the project.
The Washington Construction Loan Corporation has sent a letter Friday to the developers of the $1.3 billion Capitol Park project in Alexandria, Va., saying the company will not be building on Capitol Park and the land is privately owned.
The loan letter was sent by the U.S. Attorney´s Office in Alexandria.
In it, the loan provider says it received a letter from a company that is “working with a private developer in Virginia to begin the construction of the new Capitol Park” and “will not be using the site for construction purposes.”
The letter was signed by WCLC president and CEO Steve Kowalczyk, and said the company is “seeking a court-issued temporary restraining order to prohibit the construction on the property.”
The agency says the loan company is the “leading lender” for Capitol Park.
It says the company has applied for two other similar loans from WCLL to build the project, and is asking for an injunction to prevent the construction.
The letter doesn´t say whether the lender has the right to build on land in Alexandria for construction.
It doesn´s unclear if WCLP has any legal standing to stop construction.
But the letter indicates that WCLW has the authority to intervene in the case.
“The Washington Building Loan Corporation believes that WLRC is acting illegally by refusing to allow construction of a building on the grounds of the Capitol Park,” the letter says.
“In its letter, WCLw asserts that the WLCC cannot intervene in this matter because it is acting as an agent of the lender.”
The loan company says in its letter that the Capitol City Development Corporation, which is the lead developer of the project and is the owner of the land, has agreed to a meeting with the agency to work out the issue.
“However, the company’s interest in the property remains and, therefore, the WCLCC must now proceed with a plan of action that will allow WCL to continue the construction without further delays,” the lender wrote.
The project was first proposed in 2013, and the construction is expected to be complete in 2018.
The proposed site of the planned Capitol Park is a part of the historic George Washington Memorial complex, which includes the Capitol.
It is estimated that there are about 5,000 people working at the project right now, according to the Washington Monument Association.
The park was built as a national monument in 1986.
The city and the nation have since recognized the historic nature of the site as a monument.