(CelebrityAccess MediaWire) — Just days after Santa Clara County won its legal battle against the city of San Jose, getting challenge suits tossed, the county is seeking $20 million in damages against the city for delaying their planned House of Blues-operated venue by 18 months.
The county plans to go ahead with construction on a 7,000-seat concert hall at the Santa Clara County Fairgrounds in the very near future.
The supervisors of the project will present their official total for damages in court on March 6, which would have been the trial date for the original case.
“We spend over 18 months unable to do anything,” Supervisor Blanca Alvarado told the San Jose Business Journal. “We were ready to go out and sell the bonds and start construction.”
The concert hall was plan as part of a revitalization project at the fairgrounds that includes affordable housing, which now under construction, and exhibition hall and the concert hall. The cost of the venue was estimated at $66 million, entirely financed with bonds, according to the paper.
The city of San Jose has been competing with the county, due to its plans to build a 5,000-seat-plus hall in the downtown area. In November, the council, meeting in a closed session, instructed the San Jose Redevelopment Agency to move ahead on plans to negotiate with the San Jose Sharks to build the theater on land across from the city hall.
The Los Angeles-based House of Blues would still be the operator of the concert hall.
The company had previously planned to open a restaurant venue in downtown San Jose, but pulled out when the project could not garner necessary funding. –by CelebrityAccess Staff Writers
