o Previously: The Port of Camas-Washougal last week ended a two-year legal battle with RiverWalk on the Columbia LLC to collect legal fees on a canceled mixed-use development.
o What’s new: A report issued Monday shows the port spent about $1 million over two years in legal fees on the RiverWalk lawsuit, which ate into port profits in 2009.
o What’s next: The port expects profits to increase again in 2010, now that the lawsuit is done.
The Port of Camas-Washougal’s profit fell about $82,500 in 2009, largely due to the increased cost of battling developers over its canceled RiverWalk project.
o Previously: The Port of Camas-Washougal last week ended a two-year legal battle with RiverWalk on the Columbia LLC to collect legal fees on a canceled mixed-use development.
o What's new: A report issued Monday shows the port spent about $1 million over two years in legal fees on the RiverWalk lawsuit, which ate into port profits in 2009.
o What's next: The port expects profits to increase again in 2010, now that the lawsuit is done.
Even with stable income from its marine and airport operations and the addition of new tenants to its industrial park, the port’s net income fell to $895,100 in 2009, from $977,600 in 2008, according to the port’s 2010 Community Report released Monday.
The port lost more than $1 million over the past two years in legal expenses after RiverWalk on the Columbia LLC sued the port for dropping its plans for a $350 million project on its Columbia riverfront property. Most of that loss, or $763,000, came in 2009.
“A majority of our legal expense happened in 2009 because that’s when the (RiverWalk) arbitration happened,” said Kim Noah, finance director at the Port of Camas-Washougal.
The port last week finally gave up hope of recovering the more than $600,000 in legal fees it amassed in a two-week arbitration process with the developer in 2009 after a financial analysis determined the LLC didn’t have the assets to repay the port.
Otherwise, the port’s operating revenue, or income from the port’s marina, airport and industrial park, has held fairly steady, about $2 million per year over the past five years. And its net operating income increased in 2009 to $148,000 from $110,000 in 2008.
“We haven’t seen a problem with people not wanting to moor in the marina, same with the airport,” Noah said. “And for the industrial park, we’ve been able to maintain the tenants that we do have, and those that have left, we’ve been able to find new tenants.”
With the end to legal fees on the RiverWalk project, Noah expects the port’s profit to rise again in 2010 to about $1.3 million.
