Miami Worldcenter, the massive, mixed-use development planned for downtown, is now the subject of a major lawsuit.
Miami Worldcenter developer Art Falcone is being sued by New York businessman and investor Harvey Silverman, who alleges that Falcone ousted him from the venture after he had invested $40 million into the project, according to the Miami Herald.
Falcone’s lawyer, Mitchell Berger, denies that Falcone and Silverman ever worked together. Instead, he says Silverman worked with Falcone’s former partner, Marc Roberts, who filed for personal bankruptcy in 2010, forcing him to drop his affiliation with the Miami Worldcenter project.
“It is disappointing and unfortunate that someone would see fit to try to sue Mr. Falcone after all of this time and all of his effort to hold on to this land, notwithstanding the failure of Mr. Roberts and Mr. Silverman to fund the project after Mr. Roberts’ bankruptcy,” Berger said.
Silverman alleges that Falcone fraudulently transferred parcels of land through a welter of companies to cut Silverman out of the deal. The suit also claims that Falcone strategically allowed various properties to go into foreclosure to buy them at a discount with new partners.
Howard Srebnick, an attorney for Silverman, said in a statement that Falcone used “an intentionally complex, non-transparent web of corporate entities designed to divest Mr. Silverman of his financial interest in various parcels of land which form part of the [Miami Worldcenter] assemblage and were purchased using monies invested by Mr. Silverman.” [Miami Herald] – Christopher Cameron