Henderson Engineers sues Mission Gateway developer for not paying for completed work

In a lawsuit filed Tuesday, Henderson Engineers claims that Mission Gateway developer Tom Valenti has refused to pay the firm $405,690 for engineering work done on the terminally delayed retail project.

Valenti, a principal with New York firm The Cameron Group, signed a personal guarantee to pay any debts owed to Henderson Engineers, according to the lawsuit. That means Valenti’s personal wealth and property may be on the hook for debts associated with Mission Gateway. (Valenti lives on a 5-acre lakefront estate in Skaneateles, New York, valued by Century 21 at $4.9 million.)

The lawsuit is the latest piece of bad news for Mission Gateway, a project that exists only on paper at Johnson Drive and Shawnee Mission Parkway.

The Pitch called Valenti Tuesday, and the developer said he didn’t know that a lawsuit had been filed.

“I haven’t seen it yet so I don’t have any comment,” Valenti said.

The Henderson Engineering lawsuit isn’t the only sign that Valenti’s Mission Gateway partners are getting impatient about money owed to them. Coreslab Structures, a contractor based in Marshall, Missouri, filed a mechanic’s lien for $177,358 worth of unpaid work on the property in November. Coreslab was a subcontractor hired to work on a parking garage for the site.

Slaggie Architects on December 3 also filed a mechanic’s lien, claiming that it is owed $1.7 million.

A mechanic’s lien is a legal instrument used by construction contractors to secure claims for work done but unpaid. The liens generally make contractors secured creditors in the event that a developer goes into bankruptcy. 

Mission Gateway is a 26-acre plot where Mission Mall once stood until Valenti bought it and knocked it down about a decade ago.

Since then, various permutations of Valenti’s grandiose plans have been presented to Mission officials. But each time that Mission officials and residents begin to wonder why no construction cranes are popping up at the city’s prime development site, Valenti tells them that he’s just one step away from being able to start on the project. At one time, he claimed that a Wal-Mart was the “rocket fuel” to make the project take off.

Valenti also once joked that Mission Gateway wouldn’t take him 16 years to complete like another one of his projects. At this point, one has to wonder.

No meaningful construction has occurred at Mission Gateway, and Valenti has downscaled his project to the point where it’s really only a Wal-Mart, a couple of other retail stores and maybe a “boutique” hotel. He’s seeking $25 million in taxpayer help, the kind of help that’s supposed to be tapped for special projects, for what now exists as a fairly ordinary project.

Mission’s elected officials seem to be growing tired of Valenti’s persistent delays. At a December 10 meeting of the Mission Finance and Administration Committee, council members seemed keen on the idea of slapping a $600,000 annual assessment onto the Mission Gateway property tax bill. The assessment would help the city recover $12 million in stormwater improvements that were made on the property to help it get ready for redevelopment. 

Earlier financing agreements for Mission Gateway had the city recouping half of that $12 million up-front once bonds were issued. But Valenti’s latest proposal has the city getting repaid some 15 years down the line, according to a report in the Kansas City Business Journal.

There isn’t a timetable on when Mission officials will consider his proposal. 

Caveat emptor, Mission taxpayers.
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