THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, June 10, 1994 TAG: 9406100715
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: I1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MARC DAVIS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: 940610 LENGTH: Medium
The lawsuit, filed by Gale M. Levine, accuses rival F. Wayne McLeskey Jr. of trying to ruin her Marina Shores project so he could take it over and keep his monopoly in the Lynnhaven Inlet area.
{REST} Levine claims that McLeskey, the fourth-biggest taxpayer in Virginia Beach, used his clout to kill an $18 million bank loan to her, spread lies about her solvency, secretly invested in a rowdy restaurant on her property and instigated frivolous lawsuits to wreck her credit.
McLeskey owns Lynnhaven Marine and Boatel off Great Neck Road. For years, it was the only marina and dry-dock storage facility in the area.
But in 1989, Levine began building Marina Shores - a complex of marinas, apartments and shops - across from McLeskey's marina in 1989. It opened in 1991.
Levine's lawsuit accuses McLeskey of anti-trust violations, defamation, conspiracy, malicious prosecution and other illegal acts. It seeks $122 million in personal damages and $102 million for Marina Shores.
``For many years prior to the construction of the Marina (at Marina Shores), McLeskey had a bitter hatred and enmity for David I. Levine,'' Gale's husband, the lawsuit states. ``That hatred extended to Levine herself. . . .
``Driven by that hatred and especially by the outrage over the competitive threat posed by the new facility, McLeskey became deter-mined to ruin and destroy Levine and Marina Shores. . . .
``McLeskey also coveted the Marina and contemplated that he could acquire it after ruining Levine financially.''
McLeskey declined to comment on the lawsuit.
``I'll just let it unfold in the courts,'' he said.
Levine also declined to comment.
Levine sued McLeskey on May 19 in Norfolk federal court. McLeskey has not yet filed a response.
In her lawsuit, Levine says McLeskey spread gossip among boaters last year that she and Marina Shores were about to go bankrupt and that McLeskey was buying her out.
One day, according to the lawsuit, McLeskey and several men in business suits spent the afternoon walking around Marina Shores, taking notes, trying to scare Levine, her employees and the public into thinking he was about to take over the business.
In another case, according to the lawsuit, McLeskey used his clout as one of Signet Bank's biggest depositors to get information from the bank on Levine and tried to buy some of Levine's and Marina Shore's bank notes.
The lawsuit also says McLeskey asked then-employee Morris Rowe to dig up dirt on her. McLeskey ``was continually angry with (Rowe) for not uncovering information to use against Levine,'' the lawsuit alleges.
Rowe, in an interview, said he worked for McLeskey's real estate business from 1986 to 1989 and did study Marina Shores' permit records at McLeskey's request. Otherwise, Rowe, now press secretary to U.S. Rep. Owen Pickett, declined to comment.
The lawsuit also says McLeskey secretly invested in Hoppers, a restaurant at Marina Shores, to get at Levine. Levine evicted the restaurant after a few months, claiming that rowdy customers were ruining her exclusive marina and that the restaurant was not paying rent.
Several lawsuits followed.
In one, a jury awarded the restaurant $1.8 million in damages, but a judge reduced that to $573,000, and the state Supreme Court eventually threw it out altogether.
In her new lawsuit, Levine says McLeskey used the restaurant ``to orchestrate ongoing court battles with meritless lawsuits designed to cripple and financially destroy'' her and the marina.
Levine claims that those lawsuits wrecked her credit, cost her an $18 million development loan and prevented her from developing 30 acres at Marina Shores.
Indeed, this isn't the first time Levine has sued McLeskey. In the 1980s, David Levine sued McLeskey, the city, the state, the federal government and others so he could build Marina Shores.
At the time, Levine alleged a widespread conspiracy to prevent him from developing the land. The city refused to let Levine build high-rise apartments there. In retaliation, Levine blocked the new Great Neck Road project.
After years of fighting, the matter was settled out of court. by CNB