RICHMOND, Va. — A falling out between the developer and general contractor of an uncompleted high-end Libbie Avenue condo building has spilled over into court.
John K. George & Co., which was hired as general contractor on the construction of the 15-unit Tiber condo building at 510 Libbie Ave., filed a lawsuit last month against the property’s developer, claiming it was wrongfully dismissed from the project after alleged disagreements over construction scheduling and other issues.
The general contractor filed a complaint and a motion for a temporary injunction in Richmond Circuit Court Nov. 23, requesting at least $1 million in damages from Tiber Partners LLC and for a judge to order JKG’s return to the project to finish and be paid for the work it started nearly two years ago.
The Tiber project is a joint effort between John George, who owns the general contracting firm, Scott Boyers, Jennifer Fergusson and Berkeley Fergusson.
The project, which is still under construction, includes 12 flats ranging between 2,000 and 2,500 square feet, two 3,500-square-foot penthouses and a 2,200-square-foot cottage.
JKG, according to the suit, was hired by Tiber Partners in 2013 under a $6.54 million contract to handle construction of the property.
Issues between the two sides revolve around the customization options presented to each buyer and their effects on construction. Buyer preferences and changes to each unit resulted in modifications beyond the original contract. The suit states that Tiber Partners was required to execute a change order in its contract with JKG to dictate each new owner’s specified customizations.
JKG claims the developer demanded a certain completion date but did not give it signed change orders related to customizations for the units – in breach of the contract between the two sides, the lawsuit alleges. Therefore, the suit continues, it was impossible for JKG to give a specific completion date for the project.
Even when JKG attempted to provide a date based on assumptions that it would receive the change orders beforehand, the suit states, the developer did not respond.
Continue reading on RichmondBizSense.com.
