GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ – WLUK) – Another lawsuit has been filed against the owners of the Hotel Northland.
ALG Northland Management LLC, an affiliate of Provenance Hotels filed the suit in Brown County Court on April 26th.
Provenance Hotels is a Portland, Oregon firm that was hired to manage the downtown Green Bay hotel.
It’s unclear yet what effect, if any, the lawsuit might have on construction, which recently resumed on the $44 million project.
David Weber, the attorney representing Provenance Hotels, tells WLUK….
“We really don’t know why the ownership group has gone silent and not reaffirmed the hotel management agreement that they reached with us some months ago”
Court documents show Provenance is seeking at least $200,000 it says it is owed, and enforcement of its management agreement.
However, in a statement, a Hotel Northland spokesperson says there is no long-term management agreement.
“ALG refused to fully cooperate in efforts to secure lender approval, resulting in the failure of the parties to complete a long-term management agreement,” writes Brigette Breitenbach, a spokesperson for the Hotel Northland.
One month ago, after a four-month court battle, a judge ruled Keith Harenda is the sole owner of the Northland.
At the time, Harenda and Mayor Jim Schmitt said the ownership decision would pave the way for a bank to loan more than $12 million by May 1st to finish the hotel project.
While construction work has resumed, the deal with the bank still isn’t done.
“I mean where does it end?” said Guy Zima, a Green Bay alderman.
“It’s time to get somebody totally different than the people that are in there.”
Zima is upset the city council wasn’t told about the new lawsuit at its meeting last week.
But Mayor Jim Schmitt says he was unaware of the lawsuit as well.
Green Bay alderman David Nennig is also troubled.
“I’m not sure if other city officials were aware of it, but certainly these are the kinds of things we ought to be aware of”
Developers for the Northland say renovation work is 70 percent complete, and still hope to open this fall.
