Davis wins one for 'little guy' in $4M 'Flip' verdict

A federal jury in Charleston sided with local real estate investor Richard C. Davis in a breach of contract lawsuit he filed against the cable network A&E Television, awarding him $4 million in damages.

Davis had claimed A&E had agreed verbally to a 50-50 profit-sharing agreement with him and his James Island firm, Trademark Properties Inc., from the reality series he created, "Flip This House." A&E denied any such agreement existed.

"This victory is much bigger than me," Davis said in a statement Thursday. "This verdict makes it clear that if a network uses and profits from someone's concept for a television show, they need to pay for it. I am thankful that we were able to win one for the little guy."

A&E said it would seek to reverse the verdict.

Looking ahead

Saying they are looking beyond the churning economy and the slowing real estate market, developers unveiled plans for a $750 million speculative commercial and office project that they say would take shape over the next 20 years in North Charleston. The ambitious project would be built on about 300 acres of the largely vacant 1,760-acre Ingleside Plantation tract near Interstate 26 and U.S. Highway 78. The first 110-acre phase calls for 1.12 million square feet of retail, office, hotel and residential space and will cost about $250 million. No leases have been signed, but construction on roads and utilities could start in about seven months. The second phase would include 2.5 million square feet of retail, office, hotel and residential space.

Turning dirt

A Dubai-based developer released details of a $600 million master plan that would turn a rural Santee sod farm into an industrial hub with more than 4 million square feet of warehouse space.

Economic Zones World, through its Jafza International unit, said it would create an estimated 3,067 jobs when it begins operating in 2012. The industrial park would be built on about 1,300 acres that the company bought for about $10 million late last year. The site would be a place where major manufacturers could assemble products, then either store or distribute them to major Southeastern cities.

Airing grievances

Vought Aircraft Industries signed a three-year contract with its union employees in North Charleston, but a statement it issued Thursday elevated tensions between the company and the labor group that represents those workers. The maker of fuselage sections for the Boeing 787 jet expressed surprise that the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers held an emergency meeting last Friday to ratify a labor agreement that contained "substantially" the same terms that the company offered when talks began a year ago. The IAM countered that Vought did not negotiate fairly during their bargaining sessions. The union also said it was forced to recommend that its local members approve a less-than-ideal contract.