R. Richard Walker has told city officials that he won’t be able to start 25th Street Station, his big-box shopping center in north Baltimore, until next May because of lawsuits under appeal in the state courts.

“He’s trying to keep Lowe’s and Wal-Mart in place, trying to keep his financial people in place, while the lawsuits go forward,” M.J. (“Jay”) Brodie, president of the Baltimore Development Corp, said. “He expects the final decision on the suits to come in May,” Brodie added during the BDC’s monthly meeting yesterday.

The Canadian-based developer has not publicly commented on the status of 25th Street Station. The Brew reported that the project has made no discernible progress in the past 10 months, leading to rumors that Wal-Mart was walking away from the project and that Walker was trying to find someone to take it off his hands.

Brodie said yesterday that the developer was committed to seeing the project through.

A lawsuit by Douglas Armstrong and Allen Hicks challenging the City Council’s approval of the project has been appealed to the Court of Special Appeals. The lawsuit was dismissed earlier this year in Baltimore City Circuit Court.

Another suit filed by two Remington-area businessmen was also dismissed for lack of “standing” and has been appealed.

Brodie said such lawsuits create “a cloud of uncertainty” that hamstrings developers from moving forward with projects of great value to the city.

Asked about being blamed for 25th Street Station stalling, Armstrong told The Brew today, “I’m a duck, it all just rolls off my back.”