Five subcontractors that have worked on the high-rise hotel south of Chandler Fashion Center (Elevation Chandler) have filed mechanic’s liens worth more than $3 million against the property.
Liens, documents filed with the Maricopa County Recorder’s Office, pave the way for subcontractors to file a lawsuit to force payment of money they say is owed them.
The liens can also halt the transfer of a property until the debt is paid, but subcontractors aren’t first in line. Usually, taxing bodies and mortgage holders have priority over contractors.
Construction stopped in April on the worksite, leaving a skeleton in the sky.
Bob Sornsin, owner of RKS Plumbing & Mechanical, said his crew worked about four months and has not been paid by the general contractor, Weitz.
"It’s not necessarily Weitz’s fault," he said. "They were not getting funds for it."
Jerry Barnier, owner of Suntec, which is owed more than $1.9 million, said his employees worked less than three months and did get one payment from Weitz.
The subcontractors left the site after being told by Weitz that the project was on hold. A Weitz executive declined comment Friday.
"It’s just a matter of funding; it’s not anything more than that," Barnier said.
In a guest opinion published June 17 on the editorial pages of The Chandler Republic, developer Jeff Cline defended his project:
"Neither Elevation Chandler nor the developer is bankrupt or is filing for bankruptcy. Full and complete financing is in place to complete this project."
On Friday, Cline declined to speak directly to The Chandler Republic but sent an e-mail response through his spokeswoman, Lindsay Hicks, which appears to contradict his June 17 statement.
Friday’s e-mail said, in part:
"The financing is just in the process of being completed for the project. Upon funding, any amounts due shall be paid current, and the project shall commence site construction with the original contractor."
Cline also blamed the work stoppage on engineering delays and not getting the condo plat approved and recorded until May.
Also since the June 17 column, Cline has changed the projected completion date.
"As there is much speculation and rumor in the marketplace, it will be all for naught once we open as originally scheduled in November 2007," he wrote. In the e-mail sent Friday, however, Hicks indicated that "the new projected opening of the hotel tower is now early 2008."
Ace Asphalt’s owner, Tim Drexler, said his lien amount is relatively small because his company had not yet done a lot of work on the project.
Luci Scott
The Arizona Republic
