By Rebekah Morris for AZ Builder’s Exchange, LLC
The owners of Bell Bank Park have agreed to a final settlement with contractors in the completion of the $100M project in East Mesa and expect all subcontractors and vendors to be paid by October 31, 2022, according to Chad Miller, CEO, Legacy Sports USA.
The project was completed in January 2022 using more than $250M in Arizona Industrial Development Authority (AIDA) bonds. The project broke ground in September 2020 with an accelerated schedule and received a Temporary Certificate of Occupancy on December 31, 2021. According to Miller, Okland and their subs worked tirelessly to complete this project at an incredible speed. The construction team coordinated and worked around design changes, owner changes, multiple permits, and a unique procurement market to get the park substantially completed and open on time. This was a monumental task that took cooperation and coordination by all involved. Altogether, design changes and owner-directed change orders were limited to 3% of the overall contract.
Because the project is backed by AIDA bonds, the contractors who did their due diligence likely considered this a low-risk project. Okland and their trade partners performed and have no reason to not be paid for the work they did. A recent story in the Arizona Republic alludes to operational revenue not meeting projections but does not explore the nonpayment of contractors.
The Clock is Ticking
Pressure is on as lien rights start to expire. The General Contractor and subcontractors have a limited amount of time to file a lien and enforce the lien by forcing a foreclosure of the property or pursue their options against Okland’s payment and performance bond for the project. By all counts, the team performed miracles to execute a tough project on an accelerated timeframe with the added pressures of COVID and by early 2021, known supply chain and increased demand pressures on construction in Arizona. However, liens are stacking up.
Dozens of contractors have filed liens against the property. According to Jordan Schell, Director of Operations for Okland Construction, filing a lien on a project is incredibly rare for them as a company. He could not think of a project that they have filed a lien on in the last 16-years in the Arizona market. Furthermore, Okland has never gone to litigation with an owner in the company’s 105-year history.
Okland is still owed more than $20M in progress payments and retention. Okland has paid all subcontractors for work that has been paid by the owner; there is no hold up by Okland as a final settlement is in place. Schell went on to state that they are hopeful final payment can be resolved soon to enable payment for everyone’s hard work.
This is a developing story that is expected to continue.
