Kenny said Friday. The city has been trying to redevelop the Cutter site since it took possession of the former proposed site of the Cutter Financial Center in 1993 for nonpayment of taxes. Bordered by Pearl, Lewis and Trumbull streets, the Cutter site contains part of downtown Hartford's last intact block of mid-19th and early 20th Century buildings. Wright had proposed an urban village of antiques and crafts shops, galleries and restaurants - a development he said would have created 400 jobs and brought families into the city. Wright is black.
City officials deny that allegation.
Wright, who could not be reached for comment Friday, initially filed a complaint with the state Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities, before the dispute spilled over into Superior Court in Hartford. City lawyers claimed a major victory in February, when a judge ruled that Wright could not claim an interest in the Cutter site as damages in the lawsuit. But Wright filed a second suit, charging that the city breached its contract to sell the land to the Lewis Street Holding Co., and again seeking possession of the Cutter site. City lawyers have always maintained the city would prevail. But a hearing date has yet to be set when city lawyers will argue that a lis pendens placed by Wright on the Cutter site property should be removed, potentially allowing the sale of 101 Pearl St. and other property.