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Brian O’Neill and Citizens Bank settle litigation

Citizens Bank of Pennsylvania and developer Brian O'Neill of O'Neill Properties Group have announced a settlement of all litigation between them.

Citizens Bank of Pennsylvania and developer Brian O'Neill of O'Neill Properties Group have announced a settlement of all litigation between them.

The terms and conditions of the settlement are confidential.

O'Neill, one of the Philadelphia region's most prolific developers of residential and commercial properties, had filed a lawsuit against Citizens, one of his company's primary lenders, in January 2010, claiming that it breached its financial commitments to him.

That action was part of a deteriorating relationship between bank and developer, with Citizens Bank having secured a $61 million judgment against O'Neill in November 2009 for default on an office-construction loan for his still-largely incomplete Uptown Worthington mixed-use project in East Whiteland Township, Chester County.

O'Neill's lawsuit, which contended that the bank had defamed and disparaged O'Neill when their eight-year relationship soured, had initially sought $8 billion and was later amended to seek $297 million in damages.

O'Neill and Citizens were not yet available for comment.