Air base partner avoids closure

The South Shore Tri-Town Development Corp., made up of officials from Abington, Rockland, and Weymouth, said the funds, from Miami developer LNR Property Corp., will allow it to operate through September. The agency would have closed “within a week’’ without additional funding from LNR, said its chief executive, Kevin Donovan.

The emergency funding is a stark example of the many struggles Tri-Town and LNR have had obtaining 900 acres of the old Navy station and converting it into a minicity known as SouthField. Under the arrangement, LNR would build more than 2,800 housing units, a golf course, a sports complex, and 2 million feet of commercial space.

“Unfortunately, we’re in a perfect storm in terms of economic problems,’’ Donovan said.

Under federal law, the Navy must sell its land to a public entity before it can be turned over to a private company for development. LNR already owns about 540 acres of the site, which it bought from the Navy through Tri-Town. LNR has cleared large tracts of the land, built roads, and laid electric and sewer lines to support construction of about 500 homes and 150,000 square feet of commercial space.

LNR now hopes to purchase the remaining 900 acres.

The project has stalled as Tri-Town has been unable to obtain the financing to close on the $43.6 million purchase in the current slow real estate and lending environment. Donovan has previously said that Tri-Town had concerns about LNR’s financial viability, saying the agency could experience problems selling bonds for the purchase “with LNR being the sole taxpayer’’ on the airbase property. LNR was put on negative credit watch in March by Wall Street credit agency by Standard & Poor’s, citing deterioration in the commercial real estate market.

Meanwhile, the Navy has been critical of Tri-Town, questioning in May whether Tri-Town has taken any meaningful steps to raise the $43.6 million. Tri-Town missed a March 31 deadline to buy the land.

With the second transaction stalled, the two parties have been feuding over which is at fault. In a letter Wednesday to local municipal officials, LNR Property Corp. vice president Kevin R. Chase said Tri-Town has “not demonstrated sufficient urgency’’ to move the project forward.

LNR has been the sole source of funding for Tri-Town and has provided the agency $12 million to run its five-person operation and paid $35 million for infrastructure improvements. Chase said Tri-town has yet to reimburse LNR for the $35 million, as previously agreed.

At one point in the dispute, Chase sought to keep Tri-Town officials from making “statements to the media’’ about LNR’s performance of its obligations. He subsequently withdrew the demand because he said it had been “misconstrued as an attempt by LNR to limit public information.’’

Yesterday the two sides reached an agreement in which Tri-Town got $250,000 and agreed to immediately send a letter to the Navy agreeing to the land transfer to LNR. And the final deal did not specifically ban Tri-Town from making any comments to media about LNR.

Megan Woolhouse can be reached at mwoolhouse@globe.com.