A Santa Barbara construction company has filed a lawsuit in order to get paid for subcontractor work done at the Alma del Pueblo project downtown.
Katz-Moses and Calle Construction is suing developer Victoria Street Partners and general contractor Build Group for breach of contract after they allegedly refused to pay more than $55,000 for materials and services related to construction of the mixed-use development at 34 W. Victoria St.
According to the lawsuit, filed last week, the subcontractor began work at the development in April 2013, and has yet to hear from the developer or general contractor about repayment.
Barton Merrill, the Santa Barbara attorney representing Katz-Moses and Calle Construction, said he knows of at least eight or nine other subcontractors that are still awaiting paychecks, too.
If the contractor doesn’t pay up, he said, other filings could follow.
“The people have kind of hemmed and hawed as to whether they’re going to go to mediation or not,” Merrill told Noozhawk. “We’ve tried to get this resolved. The folks who have been involved should have been more circumspect.”
Merrill guessed Build Group did some overruns that the developer — and the construction loan — didn’t originally estimate.
Neither entity has noted the construction work wasn’t done to standard, he said, so they should pay up.
Marge Cafarelli, president of Urban Developments, the San Francisco real estate investment company serving as the umbrella of Victoria Street Partners, did not return Noozhawk’s calls for comment.
San Francisco-based Build Group, which took on Alma del Pueblo as its first local project, could also not be reached.
The scenario sounds eerily similar to what happened to contractors of the former Chapala One residential development downtown. Melchiori Construction successfully sued Chapala One LLC and owner Don Hughes for millions of dollars in unpaid work, although Melchiori has since gone bankrupt.
“It kind of has the sting of Chapala One,” Merrill said. “We’re trying to avoid the fiasco that occurred there.
“If you’ve got a problem with our work, tell us about it. They were subcontractors, they didn’t get paid and now they’re waiting for their paycheck.”
Alma del Pueblo, which spans a half-block from Chapala Street to the walkway behind the Christian Science Reading Room at 1301 State St., is a mixed-use project, with residential and commercial elements.
Guided tours of model apartments costing $840,000 to $2.6 million began in late May after the opening of Santa Barbara Public Market, an accompanying shopping complex.
Back then, Cafarelli said eight of the units were spoken for, with two soon closing escrow. An updated number wasn’t available last week.
— Noozhawk staff writer Gina Potthoff can be reached at gpotthoff@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.