Contractor Suits Grow to $15M on Convention Center Expansion

The largest of the new suits was filed by Tampa, FL-based Electric Machinery Enterprises. The company alleges Orange County and its general contractor, Hunt/Clark/Construct Two, owe $11 million in unpaid invoices.

The county maintains it should not be part of the lawsuit because Hunt/Clark/Construct Two was in charge of handling all subcontractor affairs. Hunt/Clark/Construct Two could not be reached for comment after a two-day attempt by GlobeSt.com. The general contractor joint venture comprises Hunt Construction Group, formerly Huber Hunt Nichols, of Indianapolis; Clark Construction Group, Bethesda, MD; and Construct Two Group, Orlando.

Numerous construction and architectural change orders increased Electrical Machinery Enterprises' basic cost on the project, the company's suit states. The suit alleges the entire project was so disorganized that subcontractors were bumping into each other daily at the site as they raced to finish their jobs on schedule. Hunt/Clark/Construct Two denies that charge in a court-filed response.

Another subcontractor, Ammon Painting Co. of Kansas City, MO, is suing Hunt/Clark/Construct Two but not the county, alleging it is owed $2 million. The painting contractor alleges its original cost of $720,325 jumped to $5 million after Hunt/Clark/Construct Two made repeated construction and design changes.

Patterson Mechanical of suburban Winter Garden, FL, headed by Peggy Patterson, a longtime area subcontractor, alleges it is owed $515,000 by Hunt/Clark/Construct Two. At the same time, another subcontractor, Central Florida Metals of Orlando, is suing Patterson Mechanical, alleging that firm hasn't paid a $40,000 balance for materials previously delivered to the site.

A Longwood, FL contractor which installed underground wiring at the convention center, alleges in a lawsuit it is still owed $1 million by Hunt/Clark/Construct Two. Another subcontractor, who supplied electrical materials, has sued for $140,000 in unpaid invoices.

The fifth, $748-million phase of the convention center was the second largest commercial project of its kind, next to the ongoing billion-dollar developments at Orlando International Airport, according to GlobeSt.com research. The expansion brings the total area at Orange County Convention Center to four million sf.

The exhibition space alone is 2.1 million sf, making it the third largest in the country next to Las Vegas with 2.3 million sf, and Chicago with 2.2 million sf. Right behind are Atlanta, 1.3 million sf, and New Orleans, 1.1 million sf.