Just a few days ago, it seemed like a local group was taking over ownership and management of the sports pavilion in Corridor Plaza.

The Better Way Project, a group of Fort Dodge real estate investors, issued a statement last Friday saying it was running the site, which it renamed it Better Way CourtPlex. A Better Way Project sign quickly went up on the building.

But in the eyes of the city government, The Better Way Project doesn’t own the place. The city’s stance is that the site is owned by its original developer, MandM LLC of Ankeny, under contract with the local government.

And on Wednesday, the City Council voted to serve MandM LLC with a kind of legal notice that will require it to come into compliance with that contract.

“Our agreement is still with MandM LLC,” Mayor Dave Flattery said.

He said the city is not trying to close the pavilion.

He added that any costs associated with the pavilion will not end up on the property tax bills of Fort Dodge residents because the city has money from the reinvestment district that helped to fund the creation of Corridor Plaza on the site of the former Crossroads Mall.

During a special meeting Wednesday, the City Council voted to issue a notice of forfeiture to MandM LLC. The resolution approved by the council states that “the buyer is in default under the contract.”

Contract background

There have been “multiple material defaults” in the contract, according to a statement issued by city officials after the council meeting.

Any transfer of the building or operation to The Better Way Project could be a default of the contract, according to city officials.

“Under the governing development agreements, any transfer of ownership interests, management authority, guarantor obligations or major control requires proper approvals from the city,” the statement reads. “Those approvals have not been granted.”

MandM LLC will now be given a list of contract defaults and will have 30 days to remedy them.

Councilman Todd McCubbin is a partner in The Better Way Project, which he acknowledged has put him in “kind of a difficult position.”

“The people that voted for me, I need to look out for them before I look out for any other interest,” he said.

Councilmen Kim Alstott, Terry Moehnke and Cameron Nelson all said they were advised by the city’s attorneys to make no public comments on the situation.

Councilmembers Jen Crimmins, Scott Davis and Megan Secor did not return calls.

The city government actually owned the 51,000-square-foot building for a couple of months last year. The City Council stepped in when MandM LLC struggled to get financing. The sports pavilion was envisioned as a magnet that would draw people to Corridor Plaza and the council indicated that it did not want to see it fail.

So in January 2025, the council voted to buy the building from 3 & 1 LLC, of Fort Dodge, for $10.1 million.

Then in April 2025, the council sold it back to MandM LLC for $12.1 million. The sale was structured so that payments from that company will pay off the debt the city government incurred to buy it.

But city government involvement in the deal was not universally popular, resulting in some stormy City Council meetings.