LANSING, Mich. — Lansing Township Trustee Adam DeLay got right to the point.
"I guess what I'm saying is I'm accusing Mike Eyde and now his estate of sandbagging The Heights development so that they could continue to loan the township money that it would have to pay back or increase its equity stake," he said.
In 2010, Lansing Township decided to back a luxury apartment and retail space called The Heights at Eastwood. By all evidence, it's been a spectacular failure for the township.
The Heights at Eastwood has never found enough tenants to make a profit. Instead, it's created a massive liability. Eyde's estate is suing the township for $13.8 million in debt.
"It should have never been done in the first place," said DeLay.
But he also says the failure of The Heights isn't entirely the township's fault. DeLay is now claiming that The Heights hasn't reached occupancy not because of a lack on interest but because of Eyde and his estate.
DeLay represented the township from 2016 to 2019, Eyde had the power to veto The Heights tenant applications, and he used it.
"One case I can point to is that Planet Fitness wanted to take up residence in The Heights," said DeLay. "So that would have been an anchor tenant, a name brand anchor tenant for The Heights that would have probably paid for a substantial amount of square footage, but Eyde vetoed it."
Why? DeLay claims it's because the estate stood to benefit.
He says that every time the township couldn't make a bond payment on The Heights, The Eyde Estate would pay it for them, and in turn, the estate would absorb a percentage of the development.
"And so what incentive was there for Eyde, or now his estate, to put tenants in The Heights if they're able to take bites off of the [Downtown Development Authority's] ownership stake or loan the township money that'll have to be paid back," DeLay said.
William Tomblin, an attorney for the Eyde estate, declined to the interviewed but issued a statement response to DeLay's claim, saying in part that Eyde "always had great respect and appreciation for the Township. The success of Eastwood has been, is and will be, its past, current and future successful development and thwarting that would never have made any sense.
"The statement..." it continued, "is simply not supported by the facts and is unfounded. In fact, similar claims were made and dismissed in the US Federal District Court (Western District of Michigan) and later the Ingham County Circuit Court. The plaintiff, there, appealed the final state court dismissal and it was upheld, in various parts, both for a failure to state a claim at law and for lack of evidentiary support."
Township officials still won't speak about the case, so DeLay is.
"I think that there's a degree of embarrassment at the township about how this has gone," he said, "and why it is that they choose to be shady about it or not be forthcoming with it? I can't tell you."
Moving forward, he thinks the township needs to be open about their mistakes and sees three options for paying off the debt: raising taxes, selling The Heights to pay off as much debt as they can or finally getting enough tenants to make money."
"What I would tell Mike Eyde’s estate is, if you're looking for your $13.8 million probably the best way to get that back… fill the space," said DeLay.
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