Aiken County native and Washington, D.C., developer Tracey Turner had big plans for the old Aiken County Hospital.
"We’re going to turn the hospital into high-end condos and then the remaining acreage we are turning into townhomes,” Turner told the Aiken Standard on June 21, 2023.
Those plans, however, aren't going to happen and now Turner's development company, Turner Development LLC, is suing Aiken County.
Turner Development, through Atlanta lawyer William Jones, filed suit against Aiken County on Wednesday afternoon in the Aiken County Court of Common Pleas.
The company alleged Aiken County breached the agreement and the implied covenants of good faith and fair dealing by refusing to pay for a survey.
Aiken County Council Chairman Gary Bunker signed an agreement June 22, 2023, giving Turner Development LLC (or a related company) until March 31 — the date was extended to April 1 because of the Easter holiday — to pay $950,000 to purchase the 9.44-acres of property located at 828 Richland Ave. W.
Section IV of the agreement calls for Turner to pay for and the county to reimburse the costs of a survey.
"Defendant Aiken County breached this agreement by failing to pay for the cost of the survey as outlined in the purchase and sale agreement," Turner Development says in the lawsuit.
Turner submitted a document his real estate attorney Brad Boni called a survey and $24,000 invoice from Cranston Engineering to the county on March 20.
However, Cranston Engineering did not describe the document as a survey. It called the document a "boundary topographic and utility map." However, it does say that it provided "survey services" to Turner Development.
In a letter to Turner dated April 2, Aiken County Attorney Brad Farrar also disputed that the document submitted was a survey, and said that the county would not pay for it.
The document "Cranston prepared at your request included topographic and utility map services that have nothing to do with crafting a property description to be used in a limited warranty deed," Farrar wrote.
Farrar also implied Turner didn't need Cranston to prepare the document.
Before reaching the agreement with Turner, the county had contracts to sell the hospital twice, Farrar said.
Three previous deals to purchase the old Aiken County Hospital have also failed to come to fruition. The entities involved were the Marian Group, WTC Investments LLC and Aiken Lofts Manager LLC.
As a result of those agreements, the county has substantial information about the property including surveys, title work and various studies, Farrar said.
"The county would have provided that information, title work and those studies to you freely had you simply requested them or engaged the county during the due diligence period," Farrar continued.
The lawsuit against Aiken County is the latest in a series of legal battles involving Turner or his development company.
Fuse 10 recently filed a foreclosure lawsuit against Turner's other Aiken County project, Weeping Willows, earlier this month and there have been multiple liens filed against the properties.
