The developer the Port of Pasco dismissed after failing for years to break ground on its planned vision for Osprey Pointe says in court documents the port’s current executive director is the reason it was forced out.

JMS Development LLC’s wants to ask a Franklin County jury to prevent the port from installing a new developer for its Osprey Pointe riverfront property off Ainsworth Avenue in east Pasco and reinstate JMS, according to court documents.

The developer alleges it was shortly after Adam Lincoln became the port’s top administrator that the port began working with lawyers to find a way to terminate its agreement with JMS. The port also worked to make sure there’d be no way JMS could resolve the matter or even be in a position to seek reinstatement, the court documents state.

“… Adam Lincoln contacted one of JMS’s lenders and encouraged the lender to accelerate the loan’s balance to ensure that JMS could not afford to litigate its case against the port,” according to the complaint. “The lender immediately reported Mr. Lincoln’s comments to JMS, and in doing so, informed JMS that Mr. Lincoln also divulged JMS’s personal and private financial information to the lender, as well. Mr. Lincoln did not have JMS’s permission or authority to do so.”

The port’s formal response to the lawsuit denies JMS’s assertion that staff contacted the developer’s lender. The port also asserts that JMS’s lawsuit either fails to state a claim for which it can receive relief, or its claims are barred by the agreement it had signed to develop Osprey Pointe.

“The port disagrees with the claims raised in the filing and looks forward to presenting its position through the legal process,” the port said in a statement. “Because the matter is now in active litigation, the port will not be providing additional comment at this time.”

Project background

The port contracted with JMS in 2019 to develop the signature 55-acre riverfront property its offices sit on in east Pasco.

Jim Sexton, owner of JMS, ended up proposing a unique mixed-use development with 962 residential units, dozens of commercial spaces, including a large market hall with wine tastings and an art gallery, and an event center with outdoor amphitheater.

In July 2025, Sexton told port commissioners he was ready to buy the initial 9 acres at a previously agreed upon price of just under $2 million before he invested $1 million for needed utility work. 

But port commissioners and staff pumped the brakes on his request, requiring it be made in writing, include a new proposed development schedule and a letter explaining the need for it. The port also posed questions and expressed concerns about how the development dragged out.

Sexton has cited numerous hurdles that stalled the project, including the city of Pasco needing to update its comprehensive plan and building codes to accommodate the project; staff turnover in the city’s planning office; the back-and-forth on state codes for natural gas in new construction; and the Covid-19 pandemic. 

Port commissioners voted unanimously to terminate its agreement with JMS in December 2025 after the developer failed to meet deadlines.

Setbacks and scrutiny

JMS noted in its lawsuit that despite the setbacks it experienced in developing Osprey Pointe, it and the port had worked to adjust schedules and other elements of the agreement so the project could move forward.

However, when Lincoln, Pasco’s former city manager, replaced retired port executive director Randy Hayden in March 2025, JMS began to experience difficulties working with the port as it had with the city of Pasco during Lincoln’s tenure there.

“Unfortunately, however, Mr. Lincoln’s abject lack of cooperation at the city followed him to his new role as the executive director of the port,” according to the lawsuit, adding “when he assumed his new role at the port, Mr. Lincoln told a city council member that he was going to ‘kill’ [read: terminate] JMS’s involvement in the project.”

The following months saw increasing scrutiny, lack of direction and foot-dragging from the port on moving Osprey Pointe forward, JMS’s lawsuit alleges. The developer later learned that the port began working with its lawyers to find a way to terminate JMS’s agreement with the port with no recourse to resolve disputes.

“Indeed, the port produced multiple documents in response to JMS’s public records requests, which establish that the port’s efforts to consult with counsel on the (MDA, or master development agreement) began as early as May 2025 – 7 months before the port terminated the MDA in December 2025.”

Even after the contract termination, Sexton offered $11.5 million to buy the property, which was also rejected by the port. Community and construction industry representatives also asked the port to reconsider its decision.

“It was apparent, even to observers, that the port seemed to lack ‘good faith intent … to see the MDA through to completion, and that the decision to terminate the MDA had effectively been made before the official determination on Dec. 12, 2025, regardless of JMS’s effort to satisfy the port’s requests before that Dec. 12, 2025, meeting,’” according to a portion of the lawsuit citing a statement from Pasco city Councilman Leo Perales.

Future court hearings have not yet been scheduled as of July 20.

JMS is represented by William B. Emmal of Spokane-based Piskel Yahne Kovarik PLLC.

The port is represented by its in-house counsel Heidi Ellerd of Ellerd, Hultgren & Dahlhauser LLP and Bob Sterbank of Seattle’s Foster Garvey PC.