City of Cambridge responds to CWDI: says lawsuit still demands group hires outside Master Developer

CAMBRIDGE, MD. – The City of Cambridge is not budging on its issue with the Cambridge Waterfront Development Inc., and the problems that sent them to court to block a sale of land.

After CWDI responded to the City of Cambridge’s lawsuit- claiming that the city has amended multiple parts of their suit, that is currently stopping the sale of a parcel of land for the redevelopment of the city’s waterfront.

The City says their issues with the deal and the reason they went to court have not changed.

“This originally was to be set up was CW Cambridge Waterfront Development Incorporated. They were supposed to have been the liaison between the master developer, the city of Cambridge, Dorchester County, and the state of Maryland,” said Council President Lajan Cephas.

While CWDI says they have done nothing wrong, calling it a baseless claim.

The city says by appointing themselves as a master developer- they violated their agreement, and that disagreement remains at the center of the lawsuit. Cephas says it’s not just a technicality, but a real question of experience.

“We only get this shot one time. So, you know, this isn’t the time for someone that’s never done this before to for an organization, that’s never accomplished just to come forward and say we’re the master developer, we need to get the best,” she said.

She says the city’s lawsuit is hoping to get both sides to come to the table and work out a resolution.

When asked if that has happened since the filing, Cephas said she couldn’t comment on any active negotiations.

“The lawsuit can be rescinded, It’s just to get us to the point we can have a conversation so we can form some sort of trust between the city and CWDI so we can move forward with the project. That’s that’s the sole intent,” she said.

Cephas says that negotiation, the requirement to have an outside master developer come in will be a must.