DERBY – A lawsuit involving a partnership formed to build more than 200 apartments downtown could be heading toward a resolution.

James and Steven Lepore teamed with husband and wife Christopher Barretta and Jena G. Bonazzoli-Barretta to gain approvals from Derby in February 2020 to redevelop 23 Factory St.

Derby also granted a tax break and permission to use city land for parking.

More than five years later, the project has gone nowhere.

Instead, the business relationship broke down, with the Lepores filing a lawsuit against the Barrettas in April 2023.

The lawsuit was scheduled to go to trial Dec. 2. However, the matter is instead going to binding arbitration, according to documents filed with the court Nov. 21. Arbitration means a third party will listen to both sides of the lawsuit and try to reach a resolution.

The document lists retired Connecticut Judge Theodore Tyma as the third party who will officiate the proceedings, which are handled privately, outside of court.

The lawsuit could resume if arbitration doesn’t work. The arbitration meeting is scheduled for sometime in February. The court document did not list a specific date.

Background

The Lepore brothers and the Barretta family joined forces to develop property in Derby’s redevelopment zone.

The deal, according to the Lepore brothers’ court filing, was that they and the Barrettas were to form a new limited liability company – Downtown Derby LLC – to develop and ultimately sell 23 Factory St., with each of the four partners having a 25 percent interest.

However, the property remained under the control of Barretta Property Management, whose agents allegedly ​“refused to transfer (the property) in order to allow for the sale of the approved project,” according to the lawsuit.

In court documents filed in response, the Barrettas denied the Lepore brothers’ accusations and disputed the business deal. They said the Lepore brothers were supposed to buy the property from them. The Barrettas own 23 Factory St. and operate Barretta Gardens & Landscaping there.

The Barrettas also said the Lepore brothers’ lawsuit mentions aspects of an alleged deal that was never put in writing.

Derby’s redevelopment zone is the land between Main Street and the Housatonic River, stretching from the Derby-Shelton bridge to the Route 8 ramps near Home Depot.

The city’s planning and zoning commission unanimously approved what was supposed to be 178 one-bedroom units, 21-two bedroom units, and four, two bedroom ‘town-house’ units.