BALTIMORE (AP) — Attorneys defending a $1.6 billion redevelopment of State Center say Baltimore business and property owners suing to halt the project waited too long to object.

State attorneys told the judge Wednesday during a hearing on a motion to dismiss the suit that the well-known project got started in 2005, but the plaintiffs did not sue until December. However, the attorneys for the plaintiffs say their clients did not have a case until the state entered into definitive agreements in 2009 and 2010.

The suit alleges the state did not seek competitive bids for master developers in 2005 and the redevelopment will hurt the central business district.

The judge did not rule on the motion immediately.

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