Marina company loses battle for $2m.

A judge had ruled that the company should receive the money back because it had breached the terms of the construction contract.

By MIRIAM BULWAR DAVID-HAY (TRANSLATED)
The company that built Herzliya's controversial marina has lost a court battle to win back a $2 million deposit it placed with the city before beginning work on the site, reports www.local.co.il. A judge in the Tel Aviv District Court said the Herzliya Marina company, owned by real estate developer Motti Zisser, should not receive the money back because it had breached the terms of the construction contract. According to the report, the Herzliya Marina company was obliged to deposit $810,000 plus an additional $1.2 million as guarantee money when it won the tender to build the marina in 1988. Under the contract, the company committed itself to carrying out all the infrastructure and development work in the area within 3.5 years, including roads, sidewalks, parking spaces, lighting and drainage. But the city then refused to return the guarantee money, saying the company did not complete the work in time and still has not completed some of it. The company sued the city, saying that in a 1993 letter, then Herzliya mayor Eli Landau wrote that the work had been satisfactorily completed, apart from a few small matters that were being taken care of. Now, a Tel Aviv District Court judge has found in favor of the city, saying that despite the former mayor's letter, the terms of the tender were not flexible and had not been met. The judge also ordered the company to pay court costs. Herzliya Mayor Yael German said the decision was important because it showed that there were to be no exemptions from contract conditions, even if a mayor signed a personal waiver with an entrepreneur. No response was reported from the company.