(CN) - A coalition of civic, environmental and neighborhood groups no longer has a say in Donald Trump's development plans for the old Penn Central railway yard, a New York appellate division ruled.
In the early 1990s, Trump allied himself with community and environmental groups in order to win support for a project to develop land along the Hudson River from 59th to 72nd Street. In 1993, he signed a contract with the Riverside South Planning Corp. (RSPC) - a nonprofit group created to oversee the planning, design and construction of the Riverside South project - in which he agreed to follow certain guidelines during development.
When Extell acquired Trump's interest in the project in 2005, it also inherited the real-estate mogul's promise to follow the coalition's design and environmental sustainability criteria.
But the 1993 contract expired after 10 years. By the time Extell launched construction, it was no longer contractually bound by the agreement.
Still, RSPC tried to hang on to Trump's promises, claiming the design and environmental sustainability guidelines should be enforced "indefinitely and absolutely."
Judge Catterson ruled that RSPC cannot "obtain through litigation and rhetoric what it plainly could not obtain from its adversaries through contract negotiations."
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