There is a $24.5 million fight underway over the decision by the Washington State Convention Center expansion developers to drop the general contractor and construction management company that had been lined up to build the planned 1.2 million-square-foot pavilion along Pine where the King County Metro Convention Place Station is located today.
Last week, lawyers for the Skanska-Hunt joint venture filed a lawsuit attempting to block a rebidding of the job and calling the decision illegal. CHS reported on the Convention Center announcement earlier this month that it was dropping Skanska-Hunt amid increasing concerns about costs and logistics on the project.
According to the filings, Skanska-Hunt was lined up to receive a 2.95% fee on the planned $830 million construction budget for the estimated $1.4 billion expansion. The joint venture’s lawyers say its bid was “30 percent lower than the next high scoring prospective GC/CM” and that the companies are well positioned to complete the project. “Between the, Skanska USA Building, Inc. and Hunt Construction, Inc., have completed 38 convention centers in 32 cities across the United States,” they write.
Lawyers for firm Ahlers and Cressman wrote that the Convention Center developers did not specify why they decided to make the change but told the joint venture it was removed “for reasons other than Skanska-Hunt’s performance on the project.”
A legal response to the lawsuit from the Convention Center developers Pine Street Group had not yet been filed with the court as of Monday afternoon.
Though the Convention Center’s expansion will take place across I-5, the planned development’s implications for pedestrian activity and connections between downtown and Capitol Hill has drawn interest and involvement from community groups and those interested in creating more lidded area above the interstate.
The project is approaching another milestone this week as the Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the project is taking public comment and will be discussed in a public meeting on March 29, 5:30 PM, at Room 206 in the Convention Center.
UPDATE April 26 3:27 PM: In a joint statement highlighting the project’s “design and budget issues,” both sides have announced that the lawsuit has been settled and the WSCC is free to proceed in its “contracting process” — presumably to find a new firm to lead the construction:
Secret meetings of the WSCC board behind closed doors where they decide what to do with billions of dollars of public money? Not surprising, considering this entire project has faced very little public scrutiny, despite the enormous price tag.