Hammes, Wisconsin-based, that promised a new and improved golf course next to Miami International Airport is suing the city, saying Miami unfairly tossed out its proposal.

Dubbed ''Citywalk,'' the project was a proposed $110 million makeover for Miami's city-owned, money-losing Melreese Golf Course, which operates adjacent to Miami International Airport.

The city initially said the market could no longer support a four-star hotel at the site. The Melreese suit comes on the heels of other legal challenges to how Miami awards contracts for its high-profile projects.

Hammes, a Wisconsin-based company specializing in stadium overhauls, is suing the city after Miami canceled its contract to manage a $150 million Orange Bowl renovation project.

The $200 million-plus Crosswinds condo/retail project planned for Overtown -- trumpeted by Miami Mayor Manny Diaz as a needed catalyst for uplifting the longtroubled neighborhood -- has been slowed by two lawsuits.

City spokesperson Kelly Penton said the lawsuits are simply part of conducting business. Miami awards its contracts fairly and transparently, she asserted.

Penton said the Citywalk proponents did not put their proposed hotel where Miami leaders wanted it. Concalpro called the structure a four-star hotel, but its amenities didn't quite make that grade, the city contends.

When Miami rejected Concalpro's Citywalk plan in writing, it did not cite any such deficiencies but rather stated that rapidly rising construction costs ''may now render a 4-star hotel economically unfeasible'' for the city.

By M. Sese
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