Visible for miles, the Carnegie Tower condominium building is scheduled to open later this month. In the shadows of the tower are the Carnegie Abbey Club and an array of pricey shingle-style homes and cottages.

The Providence Journal / Frieda Squires

PROVIDENCE — Democratic Party fundraiser Mark S. Weiner and his wife, L. Susan Weiner, of East Greenwich, have sued Carnegie Tower Development Co. Inc., seeking the return of their $219,300 deposit for a condominium at the 22-story tower on Narragansett Bay set to open June 27 in Portsmouth.

The Weiners entered into a purchase-and-sale agreement on April 25, 2005, for unit 1001, a 10th-story, two-level condominium in the Carnegie Tower, according to their complaint. The price was $2,193,000 and their deposit was 10 percent of that price.

The Weiners were set to purchase a “Westerly” unit — a three-bedroom, 2,528-square-foot condo with a 196-square-foot balcony.

Through a spokeswoman, the Weiners declined comment on the matter, referring questions to their attorney, Stephen A. Izzi, of Moses & Afonso Ltd., a Providence law firm. Izzi said in a phone message that he would have no comment.

Rosemarie McElwee Console, a spokeswoman for the developer, O’Neill Properties Group of King of Prussia, Pa., also declined to comment.

The Weiners’ complaint was originally filed in Newport County Superior Court, but the developer’s attorney, Charles A..Tamuleviz, of Darrow Everett LLP, of Providence, got jurisdiction moved to the U.S. District Court.

Chief Judge Mary A. Lisi signed a June 5 pretrial order requiring discovery to be completed by Oct. 5. A settlement conference has been set for Sept. 30, as part of a mandatory program requiring parties to make good-faith efforts to resolve their disputes before trial.

The complaint, dated April 8, argues that “as of April 7, 2009, Carnegie Tower has not notified the Weiners that it is prepared to close, and to transfer title to the condominium to the Weiners,” although the purchase-and-sale agreement provides that “time is of the essence of this agreement.”

The lawsuit adds that “the promise made by Carnegie Tower to close and transfer the condominium to the Weiners is illusory and the agreement is not a binding contract.”

In an interview earlier this year, Denise Birt, director of sales for O’Neill Properties Group, said the structure had been scheduled to be ready for occupancy in December of 2008, but a problem with the water main had to be resolved, causing a delay.

Meanwhile, a black-tie optional party is planned at the tower’s penthouse suite to celebrate the June 27 opening.

J. Brian O’Neill, founder and chairman of O’Neill Properties Group, first spotted the vacant Kaiser Aluminum tower while playing golf at the nearby Carnegie Abbey Club, and in 2004, he offered to buy it from Peter de Savary. De Savary is the British buinessman who founded the Carnegie Abbey Club in 2000 on land leased from the Benedictine monks who run Portsmouth Abbey School.

De Savary declined the initial offer, but eventually O’Neill purchased the entire 450-acre club and all of De Savary’s Rhode Island holdings. He expanded the Carnegie Abbey Club into a high-end vacation home development with clubhouse condo units, sprawling shingle-style mansions — the “Royal Cottages” — and now, luxury condominiums. However, as the tower was under construction, the condo and second-home markets experienced declines.

However, the company Web site, carnegienewport.com, reports that more than half of the tower’s 80 units have been sold.

Weiner, a jewelry manufacturer, and his wife were one of the first two families to reserve a condominium at the tower.

In a story published in The Journal in November 2007, Weiner had only glowing things to say about O’Neill and the Carnegie Abbey Club.

“I really got interested in the club after meeting Brian,” Weiner said at the time. “I think he’s absolutely sensational. He’s a visionary. He’s bringing the club to a totally new level …

“I’ve never heard anybody say an unkind word about him. He’s very fair. I think he gets real pleasure out of seeing people enjoying the club. He’ll ask me, ‘What’s wrong?’ and I’ll say, ‘Nothing.’ And he’ll say, ‘Well, what’s right about the club?’ and I’ll say, ‘Everything.’ ”

Condos at the tower are priced from close to $1 million to $7 million, except for the penthouse, which is priced at $14.5 million.

In addition to unsold condominiums at the tower, seven single-family residences at the club are listed for sale, ranging in price from $1.9 million to nearly $7 million.

Also still listed for sale are O’Neill’s two private Aquidneck Island properties: Oakwood, a newly restored historic mansion on Narragansett Avenue in Newport, priced at $7.9 million (it went on the market in 2008 at $10.75 million); and Hopelands, an 8-acre waterfront compound at 165 Indian Ave. in Middletown, priced at $9,750,000.

O’Neill bought Hopelands in May 2003 for $5,550,000, according to town tax records. He acquired Oakwood as part of the package when he bought the Carnegie Abbey golf club.

cdunn@projo.com