The Cambridge Housing Authority and B.C. Construction, which renovated the authority’s historic Putnam School in East Cambridge, have settled their legal battle, authority executive director Michael Johnston said May 28. The authority will pay the builder $1.5 million; B.C. Construction had sought $1.4 million owed for work performed plus about $2.2 million for costs the contractor said it incurred because of lengthy delays, Johnston said.
Johnston told authority commissioners that the settlement terms were “favorable,” but the authority had also claimed it was due almost $2 million for costs caused by the delay. In the dispute, each side asserted the other was at fault for a project that was completed 397 days late. The work was supposed to reach “substantial completion” by Feb. 10, 2023, but didn’t get to that point until March 13, 2024, according to the lawsuit.
B.C. Construction sought $1.4 million within five business days when it originally filed suit July 3, asserting that the authority’s refusal to pay bills threatened its existence.
Kevin Polansky, an attorney for B.C. Construction, didn’t respond to an email seeking comment.
Putnam School, built in 1890, had not been redeveloped since CHA acquired it in 1983. The project modernized 24 apartments for low-income seniors and created nine units for 10 disabled tenants. Originally nine disabled tenants had lived in three apartments. The work included a new heating and cooling system, elevator and appliances; the original contract in October 2021 was for $12.1 million, but it had increased to at least $13.6 million by September 2023.
When B.C. Construction filed suit in Middlesex Superior Court on July 3, the company also asked for a preliminary injunction ordering CHA to pay the $1.4 million in back payments within five days. Six weeks later at a hearing on the injunction, the company shrank its request to $237,000. Judge William F. Bloomer refused to grant the injunction.
After that ruling on Sept. 18, 2024, only one more filing was made in 2024: the construction company’s answer to CHA’s claim for almost $2 million in costs from the delay, last October. Seven months later, B.C. Construction submitted an amended complaint on April 25 with no objection from CHA. The two sides reported the settlement about three weeks later, on May 16.
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1.5 million to modernize 24 apartments and create 9 new ones. Wow!
That should have been 15 million