Agreement to end studio project being challenged

Valerie Miller

Wednesday, March 22, 2000 | 11:37 a.m.

Just when the Henderson City Council and Studio Enterprises, Ltd., were about to put final signatures Tuesday on an agreement that brings a controversial movie studio project to a close, a third party is trying to stop the deal.

The City Council on Tuesday approved the settlement of a lawsuit filed against the city by Studio Enterprises, despite the fact that other partners in the project, InSynch Unlimited and Black Mountain Legacy Development Group, are going to court this week to seek a restraining order to prevent the settlement.

District Judge Lee Gates will hear the request to stop the deal Friday at 9 a.m.

The dispute between Studio Enterprises and the other parties involves a claim by InSynch that it holds an interest in 5 acres of the 20-acre site near Wagon Wheel Drive and U.S. 95 in the Wagon Wheel Industrial Park, Brian Whitaker, attorney for InSynch said. The original project would have had Studio Enterprises buying a total of 80 acres from the city of Henderson, but only the first 20 acres were actually purchased.

The studio deal fell through last year after residents protested the project, saying it would use dangerous pyrotechnics, increase traffic, and become a tourist attraction like Universal Studios. Studio Enterprises then sued the city.

The threat to the settlement comes from a disagreement over 5 acres of the original 20. InSynch, managed by Mary Colleen O'Callaghan-Miele, and Studio Enterprises, owned by Doris Keating, created the Black Mountain group to hold 5 acres that were to compensate InSynch for securing leases for the studio, according to court documents.

If the studio was not built, then InSynch was to receive 66 percent of the proceeds from the 5 acres and Studio Enterprises 34 percent, the court petition says.

The agreement, if it goes through, would have the city repurchase the 20 acres from Studio Enterprises for $3.1 million plus return another $100,000 now held in escrow.

Studio Enterprises had paid $1.2 million for the 20 acres plus the $100,000 deposit on the remaining acres it never acquired in January 1998.