Hammond, IN gave $475,000 to George Markopoulos for a project that was never completed (6/2013)

In 2012, George Markopoulos of Praedium Development failed to repay a loan in the amount of $475,000 to the city of Hammond, Indiana.

Overall, the Redevelopment Commission approved $950,000 in incentives for the project if certain deadlines were met. But the city only ended up releasing half of that money after the city determined that several breaches were made in the project's development agreement.

The city's attorney sent the developer, George Markopoulos of Northbrook, Ill.-based Praedium Development Corp., a letter in October 2012 listing six ways he had breached his agreement on the site and gave him 30 days to respond to how he would correct the issues.

But five months later, the city reported that it had received no response.

On the same project, Rieth-Riley, a contractor who had done work on the site, sued George Markopoulos seeking compensation for unpaid work. Two lawsuits were filed against Woodmar Hammond LLC and Prairie Common Holdings LLC.