The bottom line is we know nothing
There is nothing to conflict with the idea Cate reimbursed LLEG the $1-2M it had invested in the project as of 2008, and then rolled in an agreement to pay them a project management fee. First milestone payment covered the reimbursement, plus a small part of the project management fee. Final project management fee to be paid upon successful completion of the construction loan. Everything stated on LLEG's web page or through past PRs fits that scenario.
The opposing theme has LLEG agreeing to sell its interest to Cate in 2008 for mega millions. In the past dreams of $20M-$40M were tossed around. That a Cate would agree to this without knowing what the final cost would be, what the final PPA would be, while taking on the majority financial risk, with LLEG taking on none.
One ends with a project now approaching a $250M cost, highly dependent on Fed tax credits to make the investment worthwhile. Why did Cate walk? Yet the hope persists someone will now buy Cate's interest with the rider they must pay LLEG mega millions.
Of course there is absolutely nothing preventing LLEG management from issuing a PR confirming the dream scenario. They could do so easily without violating any NDA.
