Trial set for February in contractor lawsuit against Mission Gateway developer

A Johnson County District Court judge has scheduled a two-day trial in February for Henderson Engineers’ lawsuit against the developer of the forever-stalled Mission Gateway project.

Henderson Engineers last year brought suit against the Cameron Group, which for 10 years has been unable to develop anything out of the lucrative real estate it owns between Johnson Drive and Shawnee Mission Parkway. The New York company’s principal, Tom Valenti, has promised to bring a Wal-Mart to the old Mission Center Mall site, even though the metro area already has 20 such outlets.

In addition to not building anything, the Cameron Group has faced repeated claims that it hasn’t paid money it owes to contractors.

Henderson Engineers’ claim is that the Cameron Group didn’t pay for $405,690 worth of work; it filed its lawsuit just before Christmas last year. The lawsuit adds that Valenti had personally guaranteed debts tied to the Gateway project.

Other contractors have sued or filed liens against the property. Mission is adding $600,000 to Mission Gateway’s $100,927 annual tax bill to recoup costs it poured into the property in a vain effort to help Valenti get started on his work.

Also, the Prairie Village Post reported this week that Mission sent Valenti a bill for $500 to cover the city’s costs for mowing the property. That’s ordinarily Valenti’s responsibility, but he apparently isn’t tending to it.

Meanwhile, Valenti took to the local airwaves to reassure local listeners that he’s still committed to the project. He told KMBZ that he’s trying to iron out final details for a plan he wants to bring back before the Mission City Council. He wouldn’t elaborate on when those plans would surface, on the account that he has made so many predictions in the past that didn’t pan out.

But he probably just doesn’t want to see any more stories like this one.