Columbia ballpark suit gets court date; motion calls claims ‘conspiracy theories’
A lawsuit over the stalled redevelopment of Columbia’s long-vacant Capital City Stadium will head to court this summer, as one legal filing in the case calls the developer’s allegations “conspiracy theories” over a project that never came to fruition.
Richland County judge Milton Kimpson is scheduled to consider multiple motions in the lawsuit during a July 23 hearing, according to court records. Those motions include requests to toss the case and requests to pause depositions and the discovery process.
The lawsuit stems from a years-long effort to redevelop Capital City Stadium, a former minor league baseball park on Assembly Street in the Olympia neighborhood that has sat empty for more than a decade.
Developer Andrew Weddle’s Ballpark LLC sued the city of Columbia and multiple private entities this spring, alleging the city and connected developers improperly steered the stadium redevelopment away from him. The lawsuit names Columbia, Trinity Partners and entities tied to a competing developer that is currently negotiating its own deal with the city for the ballpark project.
Weddle had previously inked a deal with the city to redevelop the vacant ballpark into a mixed-use project with retail space and hundreds of apartments. But that plan collapsed in 2022. Weddle’s lawsuit blames city delays, which “pushed the deal into a period of rising interest rates,” causing Ballpark’s capital partner Gilbane “to hold off on funding.” The city in its filings said the deal fell through because Ballpark LLC couldn’t pay the purchase price, leading the city to terminate its contract with the entity in July 2022.
Later, in 2024, Columbia put the property back on the market to find a new developer through a request-for-proposal process. Weddle’s lawsuit alleges that the process was unfair and improperly advantaged other bidders, after Weddle’s company had already spent time and money preparing the site.
Weddle’s lawsuit asks for a jury trial and millions in damages from the city and other entities, including repayment for work it says it paid for and lost profits. He also wants a judge to invalidate the city’s RFP process. The lawsuit also alleges the city violated open meetings law.
In August 2025, the city signaled it planned to negotiate with a different bidder for the ballpark redevelopment, an entity operating as FHNC Holdings. That deal is still being negotiated. FHNC Holdings is also named in Weddle’s lawsuit, as are Providence Group LLC affiliates. That entity is connected to FHNC Holdings.
Response from city, other parties
The city of Columbia and the other entities named in Ballpark LLC’s lawsuit are asking a judge to throw out the case. At the same time, those entities have asked a judge to block Ballpark’s early attempts to take depositions and obtain documents through the discovery process while the dismissal requests are pending.
In a motion filed this May, attorneys for local real estate firm Trinity Partners, FHNC Holdings and Providence Group entities chided Weddle’s 162-page complaint, calling the accusations “conspiracy theories over a development project that did not come to fruition.”
That same motion calls the lawsuit “frivolous” and “legally deficient.”
The city, in its own motion asking a judge to dismiss the suit, argues that Weddle’s claim that the RFP process was unfair is premature because the process is still ongoing.
The city’s intent to negotiate with FHNC Holdings is not a final contract, it argues, saying Weddle’s company can’t challenge the process “until [it] is final and the Capital City Stadium project has been awarded.”
Judge Kimpson is scheduled to hear motions in the case July 23. In addition to motions from the defendants, including the city, to block discovery, Weddle’s company has also filed a motion to require that discovery and participation in depositions.
The July hearing could determine whether the case moves forward and whether Weddle’s company will get access to depositions and documents in the meantime.
