Contractor suing Metropolis megadevelopment for $9.8M

Construction firm Webcor is suing the owners and developers of the Metropolis megaproject in Downtown LA’s South Park neighborhood seeking to recoup $9.8 million it claims it’s still owed for work it performed on the largely complete project.

In a complaint filed on June 10 in the Los Angeles County Superior Court, Webcor says it was supposed to be paid the full amount of its more than $435 million contract with Greenland by December 31, 2018.

But in March, Webcor filed a mechanic’s lien with the county of Los Angeles for the $19.015 million it says was still outstanding. (Mechanic’s liens are filed by contractors who claim they have not been paid on time for work.) Greenland paid about half, but still owes the construction firm $9.8 million, Webcor says.

A Greenland USA spokesperson says the company has not paid Webcor, because it disputes money is owed. The company claims the $9.8 million worth of work is either incomplete or was not completed as promised.

The Real Deal LA was the first to report on the lawsuit.

Webcor is also embroiled in a lawsuit against the developers of Oceanwide Plaza, the $1 billion, still-incomplete trio of towers on Flower and 11th streets in Downtown. In that case, Webcor said it was owed $52.8 million for work it performed on the project.

The Metropolis development is composed of three condo towers and an 18-story Hotel Indigo.

In February 2018, Greenland listed the hotel for sale with a $280 million price tag. In March, Greenland listed the third condo tower—a 56-story structure scheduled to be complete before the end of the year—for sale for an undisclosed price. In March, a Greenland representative told Curbed that both properties were no longer on the market.