The developer of the Streets at Southglenn project in Centennial has parted ways with a general contractor in a dispute over money.
Greenwood Village-based Alberta Development Partners said it’s replacing CFC Construction Inc., the general contractor for the apartments on the site, because the two firms could not agree on future pricing and schedules. Catina Corp., operated by Doug Hatfield, is taking over as general contractor.
“The work is going to continue,” said Rob Kaufmann, attorney for Alberta. “All the (subcontractors) are being retained. Everybody is going to be paid, including CFC.”
CFC has fulfilled its contractual obligations on the project and tried to work with Alberta to resolve issues on the project, said Bruce Butler, who heads the company’s business development.
“The contract for the construction of the mixed-use retail, apartments and parking garage was approximately 78 percent complete,” he said. “It is CFC Construction’s standard practice to work cooperatively with project owners to achieve mutual success, and (the company) regrets the recent turn of events.”
A provision in the contract with CFC said the general contractor and the developer had to agree on future pricing and time schedules, Kaufmann said. But after three months of negotiations, the companies could not reach an agreement.
On Friday, Kaufmann sent a letter to CFC terminating the contract and giving the company until this Friday to leave the site.
“We had a right to terminate the contract,” Kaufmann said.
In a letter Friday to Alberta Development officials, CFC chief financial officer Gordon Streich said the contract was wrongfully terminated.
“It is obvious to us that this wrongful termination was undertaken to avoid your payment obligation to us regarding the payment due today, in which you were required to release approximately $749,151 in retention, in addition to our monthly progress payment of $2.1 million,” Streich wrote.
When completed, the Streets at Southglenn, on the site of the old Southglenn Mall, will include 1 million square feet of retail space, 140,000 square feet of office space and 202 apartments on 77 acres. The project’s anchors are Whole Foods Market, Barnes & Noble, Macy’s and Sears. The grand opening of the project is scheduled for August.
The $310 million development had been delayed after Alberta decided in 2007 to build apartments instead of the previously planned for-sale condos because of the softening real- estate market.
Alberta also developed the Southlands outdoor shopping center at E-470 and East Smoky Hill Road in Aurora. It sold most of the center in December for $161 million to a company affiliated with New York investment manager BlackRock Inc.
Margaret Jackson: 303-954-1473 or mjackson@denverpost.com
