Former Wonderland property owner back in court for full $29.5M appraised amount

Advocate Staff Report

With a settlement of the eminent domain lawsuit against the City of Revere nowhere in sight, the plaintiff, CBW Lending LLC, has been back in court requesting a judge to order the City to pay the full $29.5 million that the Wonderland property was appraised for at the time it was taken as the site for the new high school. The lawsuit is not about the validity of the taking, according to the attorney representing the plaintiff, but the $29.5 million in compensation for the property, which CBW considers woefully inadequate. Attorney Peter Flynn, who represents CBW, has said $100 million is a more realistic value for Wonderland. However, the City has failed to pay even the full $29.5 million, which was the fair market value of the site determined by a real estate appraiser at the time of the taking.

According to Flynn, “ Per G.L. c. 79, upon the taking, payment of the full, appraisal-based ‘pro tanto’ amount is to be tendered to the landowner. That did not happen in this case.”

What happened was that the City, without any statutory or other authority, withheld $541,166.69 of the award under the guise that CBW Lending owed the City of Revere unrelated parking license fees and/or rent. More specifically, the City withheld $53,666.69 for purportedly owed tenant parking/storage and license fees. Such withholdings or deductions are not allowed by statute or for any other reasons in this case.

Flynn explained that prior to the taking CBW was challenging the City on parking issues in Suffolk Superior Court. CBW was seeking to establish its rights to use its property for parking purposes. It was the City’s position that CBW’s use of the property for parking was not authorized under the City’s zoning and municipal code. However, the City filed no counterclaim for monetary damages for alleged unlawful use and, when the City subsequently decided to take the property by eminent domain, the parties jointly dismissed the case.

“There are extremely limited grounds for which pro tanto awards may be reduced, and these involve liens of record,” said Flynn. “While the City of Revere might allege it is owed money by the former landowner for licensing and/or zoning related violation as well as unpaid rent charges, it has no such statutory lien, other lien, court order, attachment, judgment, or anything else upon which it may rely for authority to deduct funds for this taking.”

Flynn is clear on next steps. “The City of Revere should pay the portion of the award which has been wrongfully withheld, together with interest since the date of taking, Nov. 18, 2022. CBW has been patient in this regard after endless efforts to resolve the issue privately,” he said.

Flynn has not been shy with his opinion of those endless efforts. “The City is running this case like a grade-B romance movie,” he said, clearly frustrated by the City’s unwillingness to sit down and discuss a settlement and the extended court date for the lawsuit, which has been scheduled to start in September 2026.

Flynn shared an email exchange he had more than two years ago with City Solicitor Paul Capizzi concerning his motion to compel the City to pay the more than half a million dollars deducted from the eminent domain award for Wonderland. “… the last thing you need is a separate complaint coming at the City claiming impropriety. No matter where this case goes, we want to have the communication door wide open on all issues. Also, I need to be able to report to my clients that the City is not unnecessarily dragging its feet on a matter that should not have occurred,” wrote Flynn.

Capizzi replied with a warning. “If you file a motion for injunctive relief against the City, whether you win or lose, it will adversely affect the relationship of the parties on a variety of issues in this case much more significant than a holdback for parking fees. Well, that’s my two-cents worth,” he wrote.

But Flynn said he has delayed filing a motion to force the City to pay the remainder of the award for two years, “…for the sake of not adversely affecting the relationship of the parties and not causing whatever much more significant disputes the City Solicitor was threatening.”

But Flynn said that delay has been a fool’s errand for CBW. “It accomplished nothing more than costing the plaintiff more time and money, and there is no expectation that the City will perform without a court order,” he said.