NEW YORK CITY—A dispute between a contractor and the developer of Brooklyn's Atlantic Yards project—a hotly anticipated mixed-use complex that recently was rebranded as Pacific Park—has come to a grinding halt, according to Crain's New York Business.
Skanska USA Building has stopped work on the first residential tower, known as B2, which is being built with modular construction. The company ordered work to come to a halt after a long-running dispute with developer Forest City Ratner.
"We have run into some significant commercial disputes that we have been working hard to resolve, but have been unable to do so,” says Richard Kennedy, co-COO for Skanska USA. "As a consequence, we issued a stop work notice [Tuesday]." Representatives of both FCRC and Skanska could not be reached for further comment at press time.
Workers at FCS Modular, the company formed by FCRC and Skanska to churn out the units from a factory in the Brooklyn Navy Yard, received a letter Wednesday saying that they were being furloughed until further notice.
But the partnership placed the blame for the dispute on Skanska USA. In a prepared statement, FCRC accused the contractor of mismanagement of the site and vowed to take legal action.
"This is a dispute over the costs of delays resulting from Skanska's own failures and missteps as the construction manager for B2 modular," a spokesman explains. "Skanska entered into a construction management agreement based on a fixed price which it guaranteed. Now faced with overruns, the company is employing a typical strategy to try to weasel out of that obligation."
In addition, he tells GlobeSt.com, “We are extremely disappointed that Skanska has unilaterally and wrongfully stopped work at our factory—unnecessarily putting the livelihoods of hundreds of employees at risk and causing unneeded delays in a critical project for New York City's future. Forest City remains deeply committed to completing B2 and meeting our commitments to the people of Brooklyn. This dispute has no impact on our progress in moving forward on the three new building starts we announced earlier this year that we will build conventionally.
“We intend to pursue all of our rights and remedies under the law to enforce our agreement and resume work at the factory."
Earlier this summer, under pressure from city and state officials desiring the construction of affordable housing, which was slated to be part of Atlantic Yards, FCRC pledged to speed up the project's proposed time line.The project previously was plagued with delays,including eminent-domain lawsuits.
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Rayna Katz
Rayna Katz is a seasoned business journalist whose extensive experience includes coverage of the lodging sector, travel and the culinary space. She was most recently content director for a business-to-business publisher, overseeing four publications. While at Meeting News, a travel trade publication, she received a Best Reporting award for a story on meeting cancellations in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina.
