WSMV Channel 4 New convention center still on budget, says city

The city's finance director said Thursday that construction of the new convention center is still on budget despite a pending multi-million dollar lawsuit.

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To build the new Music City Center, Metro bought a 5.66 acre parking lot from Tower Investments for $14.8 million. However, Tower sued the city saying the lot was worth $30.4.  A judge ruled last summer in favor of Tower, but the city is appealing the decision.

There's been concern that the convention city could be in jeopardy if the city has to payout millions of dollars.

But Metro finance director Rich Riebling said the city earned an extra $15 million from tourism tax revenues and expects to earn another $2.8 million by June. 

"The good news is we've actually generated more project revenues than we anticipated, so we have enough money to put that in reserve, pending litigation.  The project construction budget is right where it's supposed to be, on budget and on time, and we're moving forward," said Riebling.

Riebling said it could take another 12-15 months before a panel of judges makes a decision on the appeal. 

Still, the fight is far from over. Tower Investments said if they win the case, the plan on taking their land back.

The senior vice president of Tower Investments told Channel 4:

"We are confident that the trial court verdict will be upheld in the Appellate Court. We will contest MDHA's wrongful taking of our land and if we are successful, we are confident the land will be returned to us."

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