The University of Delaware must face most of the legal claims filed against it over the failed $1.3 billion plan to build a data center and power plant, a judge ruled.
The developer’s claims, however, will not be heard by a jury, but will instead be decided by a judge, the rulings said.
Superior Court Judge Eric M. Davis’ rulings are the latest in an ongoing legal battle since UD pulled out of a plan to build a 43-acre data center complex and 279-megawatt power plant at the former Chrysler assembly site in Newark.
The complex on the Science, Technology & Advanced Research Campus would have provided a way for organizations to store vast amounts of data without risk of losing power, while the plant would have burned natural gas, according to court documents.
The developer – the Data Centers LLC of West Chester, Pennsylvania – filed a lawsuit against UD in February alleging it suffered $200 million in damages when UD broke a 75-year lease at the campus, causing the project to fail.
The lawsuit accused the university of caving under community pressure and sabotaging the project it had once actively pursued.
UD responded to the suit by filing a motion to dismiss the case and motion to strike the Data Centers’ demand for a jury trial.
In two written opinions on Oct. 27, Davis ruled the case would not be heard by a jury and only one of the five claims in the lawsuit would be dismissed.
A spokesperson for the university would not comment on the latest ruling, but previously said the university stands behind the evaluation process and final decision on the Data Centers project.
Michael Kelly, the Wilmington attorney representing The Data Centers, was in trial Tuesday and was unavailable for comment.