Fortis Property Group is firing back against Pizzarotti,
blaming the construction company for a series of delays and a “misalignment
condition” at its luxury Seaport condominium project.
The developer filed counterclaims against Pizzarotti in New
York Supreme Court on Friday, alleging that the company didn’t properly survey
the project at 161 Maiden Lane, resulting in a “slight misalignment” of the
building on its north side. The issue was exacerbated by a series of delays at
the project, which Fortis says were the result of inadequate staffing and
safety issues — the latter of which resulted in 13 stop-work orders on the
site. The countersuit also claims that Pizzarotti’s “failure to follow proper
safety protocol” resulted in the death of a worker in September 2017.
“Our counterclaim lays bare the astounding breadth of
failures by Pizzarotti, which is why we terminated the company from the project
last month,” a spokesperson for Fortis said in a statement. “We look forward to
completing construction and starting the delivery of this world-class building
to buyers by the end of the year.”
Representatives for Pizzarotti couldn’t immediately comment
on the allegations.
The claims were in response to a lawsuit filed against
Fortis in March. Pizzarotti accused Fortis of using a cost-cutting method on
the building’s foundation, which caused the tower to lean three inches to the
north. Pizzarotti had filed a motion to halt construction on the site, arguing
that it couldn’t continue “without putting persons and property at grave risk
of harm.” In its complaint, Fortis notes that this motion was denied.
In an affidavit in support of Pizzarotti’s motion, Elisabeth
Malsch, a senior principal with engineering firm Thornton Tomasetti, notes that
while the building doesn’t currently pose a safety concern to the public, the
tower continues to move and further construction could prove dangerous.
“There is insufficient information to assure that the building
will remain safe if work advances because the building continues to settle and
there is no evidence that the curtain wall has been properly re-designed to
take the movement into account,” she states. Malsch also asserts that the
building’s movement isn’t a product of how Pizzarotti poured the concrete
floors but rather how the building’s foundation has settled. A representative
for Fortis said the new general contractor on the site has already adopted a
new plan for installing the tower’s curtain wall.
The two complaints also disagree as to why Pizzarotti no
longer works at the tower. Fortis asserts that it fired the construction
company on April 2, 2019, but Pizzarotti maintains that it gave notice that it
would end its contract on March 1. Pizzarotti claims it’s owed $32 million for
its role on the project. Fortis is seeking $95 million from Pizzarotti and
another $78.5 million from the companies that issued performance and payment
bonds on the project, Fidelity and Deposit Company of Maryland and Zurich
American Insurance Company.
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