The proposed Marriott Marquis convention center hotel in Washington has been delayed in the courts by a spate of lawsuits. Months after one of the losing developers, JBG Properties Inc., filed a suit against the Washington Convention and Sports Authority for contracting practices, both Marriott and WSCA have responded with legal actions against JBG.
WCSA filed suit on Thursday, January 20, against JBG Properties and its partners alleging that the defendants attempted to extort concessions from Marriott over the Wardman Park Hotel, a completely separate property that Marriott manages and JBG owns. Those dealings have “caused significant injury to the Authority's rights and interests in the Convention Center Headquarters Hotel Project,” stated WSCA officials in a press release.
One week earlier, on January 14, Marriott sued JBG, alleging that the developer filed a suit against the WSCA in October to extort concessions out of Marriott related to Wardman Park, not because of the convention center hotel project, according to an article in the Washington Business Journal. WSCA officials could not be reached by press time for further details. The October suit filed by JBG disputed the WSCA’s contracting process, which awarded the convention center hotel to Marriott. JBG has asked the courts to delay construction of the 1,167-room hotel and for the project to be put out for bids again.
"We intend to be aggressive in protecting the Authority's interest to make this shovel-ready headquarters hotel project a reality,'' said Gregory A. O'Dell, president and CEO of the Authority, in a press release.