IRVING

At least three lawsuits have been filed over business practices at Irving’s Toyota Music Factory, including one that asks a Dallas County court to strip operational control of the entertainment complex from the developer who’s already invested more than $160 million in the project.

Developer ARK Group filed suit in its home state of North Carolina after honky-tonk king Billy Bob Barnett abruptly shut down and walked away from five venues he was operating at the city-owned entertainment center.

The ARK suit alleges that Barnett defaulted on the lease and was not open when the venues, known collectively as Big Beat Dallas, were required to be open.

Now, lawyers for ARK have issued a “notice to vacate,” which is posted in the windows in several of the Big Beat venues.

Barnett’s bars, restaurants and marketplace flanked the open-air Texas Lottery Plaza at the center of the district. The Music Factory also includes about a dozen other restaurants that remain open and a music pavilion booked by Live Nation.

Big Beat shuttered suddenly May 29, amid Barnett’s accusation against the developer related to the size and configuration of the plaza and the number of parking spaces.

Those accusations, along with a charge that the developer used trickery to pass an important inspection needed to get a certificate of occupancy, form the basis of an eight-page petition for declaratory relief.

Barnett filed his case against Irving and ARK in Dallas County. He alleges that ARK defaulted on its responsibility in the leases and the development agreement with the city. If the judge agrees, it could deny the developer $44 million in tax-backed reimbursements from Irving.

The city has approved a third-party audit showing ARK spent more than the required $160 million on legitimate project expenses.

That move clears the way for the city to pay the reimbursements.

Noah Lazes, president of ARK, said late Thursday that he had not been served with Barnett’s suit but added that his company stands “ready to respond immediately to the frivolous and false allegations.”

“Not only are such statements made not true, but [Billy Bob’s company] attached a fake, fraudulently modified development agreement to their claim. The actual signed development agreement is a matter of public record and is not the same agreement attached to their claim.

“There is just zero truth or accuracy to the [Barnett] claim.”

If a judge backs Barnett, the suit says, it could turn landlord duties for the $250 million development over to the city. Lazes said there is no developer default, but if there were, lender Suntrust Bank would become the landlord.

Barnett walked away from the Music Factory venues, leaving beer in the coolers, pillows in the seats and countrythemed merchandise in the market. He owns the goods and fixtures, his attorney said.

Barnett’s suit claims that ARK Group used “prop” plumbing fixtures to pass inspections needed for certificates of occupancy and later replaced them, a charge the developer has denied.

In his suit, Barnett also charged that ARK did not meet requirements in the development agreement with the city, including regarding the size and configuration of the open-air plaza.

Those actions and omissions add up to default, according to the suit. Similar allegations were made in a suit filed by a newly-formed taxpayers group. That suit also was filed by Barnett’s attorney, Larry Friedman.

“ARK’s failure to timely perform the” steps required to get an occupancy permit, “and its fraud in concealing its failure to timely perform the occupancy conditions not only deprives ARK of the right to possession of the Music Factory Center, but is also a material default of the entertainment center lease and the development agreement,” the suit said.

If the judge backs Barnett’s argument, ARK would not have the authority to terminate Barnett’s lease, according to Friedman.

“The development agreement states that if there is a default in any of the leases, the city comes in,” Friedman said, calling ARK’s attempt to terminate leases “ineffective.”

Lazes said a new landlord “also would certainly terminate [Barnett’s] lease.”

Barnett’s petition seeks attorneys’ fees, but “does not, at this time, seek any other monetary relief.”

The suit has not stopped ARK from moving forward with plans to replace Barnett and reopen the darkened venues.

“There is an overwhelming number of qualified interested parties that have contacted us about leasing the spaces,” Lazes said. “We are interviewing and visiting operations of each interested party.

“The goal is not to fill spaces as fast as possible, which we  could do tomorrow, but to fill each with the absolute most experienced and knowledgeable operators that we can attract.

The good news is that there is no shortage of them in D-FW,” said Lazes, who returned music to the plaza late last week. “Experience and [having] existing successful operating businesses is even more important to us than the per square foot rent amounts.”

Staff writer Deborah Fleck contributed to this report.

Twitter: @krobijake