Supreme Court upholds ruling on Henderson land

Thursday, Dec. 13, 2001 | 8:54 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- The Nevada Supreme Court Wednesday ruled that the city of Henderson was entitled to reclaim 20 acres of land it had sold to a developer who didn't carry through with a promised commercial project.

Studio Enterprise Limited, owned by Doris Keating and her husband, Barry Schlesinger, purchased the land from the city for $1.2 million. But the city rejected a planned unit development on the property after protests from the neighbors.

Studio Enterprises filed a lawsuit against the city claiming it was wrong in turning down the project.

An out-of-court settlement was reached for Henderson to pay Studio $3.2 million for the 20 acres. Studio was also to relinquish its right to acquire 64 more acres of the property known as the Wagon Wheel Industrial Park.

After Keating and Schlesinger had purchased the property, they entered into an agreement with another company, InSynch Unlimited, owned by Mary Colleen O'Callaghan Meile, for a 110,000-square-foot building on five of the 20 acres. Meile claimed she was entitled to five of the 20 acres that was returned to Henderson by the Keating and Schlesinger

District Judge Mark Denton rejected her claim. But he ordered that $775,000 of the settlement to be held in a trust to determine how much InSynch was entitled to.

The Supreme Court upheld the findings of Denton, who will now conduct a hearing whether InSynch is entitled to any money out of the settlement and how much.