Developer Allen Casey is facing a Chancery Court lawsuit from investors in a $30 million Northshore development he announced on 9.4 acres along Manufacturers Road in 2002.
The suit by John and Barbara Winesett, Roy Roach and Gregory Hellwig of Hamilton County and David Debter of Catoosa County, Ga., said Mr. Casey has since sold about half the property, including tracts he pledged as collateral for their loans.
Mr. Casey, who launched the Chattanooga Choo Choo in the 1970s, in 2002 said the project would include an 8-story AmeriSuites hotel and a floating steakhouse restaurant on a barge. Condominiums would be added later, he said.
The suit says Mr. Casey in January sold three tracts at the site to Jackson Wingfield.
The plaintiffs said they loaned Mr. Casey $555,000 for the project. They were to be given shares in the development.
The total indebtedness on the loan now stands at over $1.5 million, counting the 10 percent interest per year interest, according to the suit filed by attorney L. Blair Bennington.
They are asking a judgment for $550,000 plus interest at the rate of 10 percent per year.
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