Quote:
Originally Posted by Metalsales
The owner is suing the contractor for 6million. Not sure exactly what for but supposedly the original tag to do the project was $10.5m and they have tried to find another contractor to complete the work and could only get a price of ~$14m
This project was shopped around for so long before they started that it was well known that it would not go well
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this is Joe Metlege the actual owner of the Vuze tower. I apologize in advance for this long post, but I'd like to clear up a few rumors :
There has been ongoing work inside the building, over the last 24 months we have completely renovated from the 33rd floor down to the 15th (198 units so far) and by renovate I mean re-construction, completely gutted the building to the concrete and installing new plumbing, electrical, life safety, 3 of 4 elevators completely replaced (including large touch screens like in the Nova Center, and also increased the speed to 700ft/min..fastest in Nova Scotia), new windows/doors, poured new slabs on the 32 and 33rd floor to increase the footprint, and countless other major upgrades (north of $40 million so far).
Given the extend of construction, in an urban setting, with no tower crane, and also pre-wiring, and plumbing the future buildings (as we are sharing cooling plants and electrical volts of the tower to feed the next 3 buildings that will sit on the podium through the new upgraded/sized systems installed for the tower). I think our crews and contractors have done exceptionally amazing.. most other new construction buildings 65-100 units are 20+ months these days just due to the difficulty of getting qualified trades as everyone is busy on all the construction going on in the city.
As for occupancy, the envelop is completely weather tight, as the metal panels are purely aesthetic and provide no weather proofing element, so the many great tenants we have are not affected (other then the fact that the building envelope is at a pause.. but in fairness, the units are priced lower to factor in this inconvenience)
I've noticed from posters like 'eastcoastal' and from 'metalsales'.. (who i suspect is one of the suppliers who wasn't awarded work on the job given some of the past posts that ive read from; who has tried to project 'inside knowledge' of which i'm confident has none.) : the job was shopped around a lot due to the complexity of the project, and the lack of experienced trades who are able to work on a 33 story building. The exterior contractor (triumph) was awarded a 'design-build' contract (far from the cheapest price) to do the envelop work. Templeton discovered that the engineering done by Triumph was flawed in certain areas, and as such has placed a stop work order on them until they rectify their errored design.. this has caused Triumph to sue their engineer and his insurance company, and as such, we are suing Triumph (unfortunately that's how it goes).
Templeton always pays its bills, and there is no dispute (by any of the parties involved) that the error is an engineering problem by triumph and their engineer (and before you ask, safety measures have been engineered and implemented until a final resolution takes place), the big delay is between what the insurance company is going to pay for and how much triumph is going to have to pay for.
As for if we are bankrupt? lol.. Templeton is financially solid, in fact, we are starting the next building (4 story along fenwick street) in January, simultaneously with the tower.. we unfortunatley can't start the other 2 on the podium because of the exterior delay and the lay down space that's being taken up.. but our plan is to building those two little podium buildings at the same time as the 10 story on South Street.. which will start upon completion and occupancy of the low rise on fenwick (which is expected to finish about 12 months +/- from start).
hope this clears up some questions, and thanks for everyones interest in development in Halifax, it's cool to see so many people take an interest in the skyline of the city.
Joe