HCW plans retail space at Branson Landing with settlement

Last edited 3:05 p.m., Sept. 2, 2014

A settlement in a lawsuit brought by HCW Development Co. LLC against Chicago Title Insurance Co. – which includes the city of Branson as a defendant – is paving the way for the development company to build a 29,000-square-foot retail space on long-disputed land at the north end of the Branson Landing.

During an executive session meeting on Aug. 26, Branson Board of Alderman authorized the city’s mayor to sign off on the settlement, which includes an undisclosed cash settlement for the developers of the Branson Landing, said HCW CEO Rick Huffman said.

Springfield Business Journal submitted a formal Sunshine Law request on Aug. 27 for terms of the settlement with Branson City Clerk and Court Administrator Lisa Westfall, but Westfall had not provided those terms by deadline. Branson City Attorney William Duston said the settlement agreement became official late Friday afternoon.

According to a news release issued today by the city, Chicago Title Co. and parent company Fidelity National Financial Inc. (NYSE: FNF) are issuing two separate $90 million title insurance policies – one each for the city of Branson and HCW. According to the settlement, Chicago Title will pay HCW $1.5 million within 15 days of the agreement being signed by all parties involved.

In addition, Chicago Title has agreed to pay for all of the city and HCW’s future legal costs for defense of the claims brought against each of them by Douglas Coverdell and Coverdell Enterprises Inc. These claims stemmed from a decade-old land dispute between Coverdell and the city, concerning North Beach Park. That suit was later expanded to include a portion of the Branson Landing property.

Huffman declined to disclose terms of the settlement, but he said insurance is now in place on long-disputed land HCW leases on the north end of the Branson Landing, which allows the company to develop on the site.

“The plans have been turned into the city of Branson and the bids have been awarded to Build LLC in Springfield for $2.5 million,” Huffman said.

Huffman said the company is constructing three buildings totaling 29,000 square feet and letters of intent have been signed on about 40 percent of the total space, though he declined to disclose names of expected tenants.

In April, he said HCW participated in mediation involving the city of Branson and Fidelity National, and through that process, it was able to reach a settlement agreement.
 
“Through that settlement agreement, Fidelity/Chicago Title are now insuring the property,” Huffman said.

He said he expects there will be a motion to dismiss the trial scheduled for December after the settlement is official.

“We are very happy to be moving forward with this. They’ve sat on the title for a number of years," he said.

In the lawsuit against Chicago Title and Fidelity National Financial, both Branson and HCW argued they had paid for title insurance policies protecting their interests in the Branson Landing as part of the construction of the project, but that Chicago Title had failed to honor these policies once claims were made against Branson and HCW by the Coverdells.

The Coverdells appealed the last ruling in its land-dispute case with the city of Branson, but with the property now being covered, Huffman said he feels it is time to move forward.
 
“If there was anything to happen, it’s insured,” he said of the land north of Belk’s department store.