This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2007, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
OGDEN - A piece of land that hugs the Ogden River in the heart of the city's redevelopment area has triggered something of a bidding war.
And a lawsuit.
A limited partnership involving Gadi Leshem, a California businessman who has been investing heavily in downtown Ogden real estate the past two years, filed suit May 30 against Raymond and Mary Jensen.
The 2nd District Court lawsuit claims the Jensens refused to follow through on the $310,000 sale of a parcel that is nearly an acre in size.
But Raymond Jensen says that is not true. On Friday, he countersued.
Leshem's representatives, he says, did not close on the property April 30, as provided by the contract.
"I had already closed but they never showed," Jensen said. "They broke their contract."
So Jensen agreed to sell the property at 1803 Grant Ave. to another buyer for even more money.
That sale was held up when Leshem's partnership filed a claim of interest on the Jensens' title recorded with Weber County, a move the Jensens are fighting.
The property is in a prime spot in the 60-acre redevelopment area known as the Ogden River Project, where the city hopes to attract new boutiques, town houses and restaurants.
Leshem, who faces insurance-fraud charges in California as president of Cover-All, a national flooring-installation company, last December bought another parcel on Grant Avenue, near the river and the Jensens' property.
He has been touted as one of the out-of-state investors who have caught Mayor Matthew Godfrey's vision for an outdoor-recreation-centered resurgence in Ogden. He also was the executive producer on a promotional video for the city.
Raymond Jensen says Leshem first showed interest in his property - and trumped a slightly lower offer - in February, the same day Jensen told Ogden's community development manager, Bill Wright, that he planned to sell the parcel to a Park City developer that night.
"I told the city," Jensen said, "and the next thing I knew, my [real estate] agent had an offer from Leshem."
Wright said Monday that his recollection is fuzzy, but he does not remember telling Leshem that Jensen was poised to sell his property. "I think he already knew about it," Wright said.
Jensen, he added, only mentioned that he had a possible buyer - not a contract to sell.
Leshem did not return phone calls to his ChatsÂworth, Calif., office on Friday or Monday. His Salt Lake City attorney, Paul King, also did not return a reporter's call.
The first 12-acre phase of the Ogden River Project already is under way.
Ogden bought and demolished all the homes and businesses between Grant Avenue and Washington Boulevard and from 20th Street to the river.
Bingham Cyclery is building a store and sandwich shop on the river and plans to rent bikes to cyclists using the Ogden River Pathway, which stretches along the south bank.
The pathway also runs close to the property where the Jensens lived for 28 years before moving to Marriott-Slatersville a decade ago.
They also own another two parcels that together amount to about one acre along the river about a block west of their old home. Raymond Jensen operates a welding business there.
Leshem and two executives of Cover-All were accused last October of cheating California out of $11 million in worker-compensation insurance premiums since 2001. They pleaded not guilty.
A hearing is scheduled Wednesday to set a preliminary hearing date, according to the Los Angeles District Attorney's Office.