Minerva and Greenland are clashing at the High Court, with Minerva claiming £3.8m in damages, blaming Greenland for failing to do what was required to secure a more lucrative planning permission for a Wandsworth development site.
Minerva, which sold the Ram Brewery site to Greenland for £135m in 2013, says that, if Greenland had done what was agreed, and a better permission had been secured, it would have been entitled to an additional £200 per sq ft under the agreement.
The substantial scheme designed and initially pursued by Minerva involves 661 flats spread over 18 buildings, including a 36-storey tower containing 166 of the flats.
Minerva says that, under the December 2013 agreement, Minerva had to apply for an enhanced planning permission, increasing the square footage of the tower, and Greenland was required to enter into the necessary section 106 agreement for that consent to be granted.
It claims that it secured a resolution from the London Borough of Wandsworth that the enhanced permission would be granted, but that Greenland refused to enter into the section 106 agreement.
That, it says, meant that it missed out on almost £3.8m.
Greenland argues that Minerva was not entitled to submit the planning application in the first place, and that it had no obligation to enter into the section 106 agreement because the terms were too onerous.
It says that Minerva failed to use reasonable endeavours to minimise the section 106 contributions.
The trial is scheduled to last 12 days.
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