Codina Partners’ lawful bill from battling Grycon retains mounting, now hitting $12 million following shedding an attraction.
Coral Gables-dependent Codina, led by Chairman Armando Codina and CEO Ana-Marie Codina Barlick, experienced contested a lessen court’s $7.8 million verdict in favor of Fort Lauderdale-based mostly Grycon.
The Third District Court docket of Appeals last 7 days affirmed Miami-Dade Circuit Courtroom Judge William Thomas’ 2022 ruling that Codina wrongfully terminated Grycon as the common contractor for 5350 Park, a 251-device condominium at 5350 Northwest 84th Avenue, and adjacent garage in Doral. The 19-story tower is inside Downtown Doral, a learn-prepared blended-use advancement by Codina.
In 2020, Grycon sued the Codina affiliate that produced 5350 Park shortly following the construction agency was fired on the exact same day that the making attained a certification of occupancy. At the time, Grycon alleged it was owed $4.1 million in unpaid work, the lawsuit states.
In addition to the $7.8 million, the appeals courtroom awarded Grycon a further around $4.2 million for the company’s authorized service fees, court documents show.
In a assertion, Armando Codina mentioned his agency is “reviewing all our alternatives and readily available lawful selections.”
“In looking through the [appeals] court’s view, it’s tough to understand why they would cite previously unrelated conditions with out approaching the merits of our case in an independent and goal fashion,” Armando Codina stated. “In my 4 decades as a actual estate developer, I have hardly ever been concerned in a industrial litigation.”
The Codina affiliate also has a pending countersuit in opposition to Grycon in Miami-Dade Circuit Court that was stayed pending the result of the attractiveness, court docket records display.
Suing Codina was also a initial for his firm, Grycon President Eric Montes de Oca said in a statement.
“This lawsuit was the initially time Grycon has at any time experienced to go after a last payment via the judicial system for a work we and our subcontractors experienced concluded,” Montes de Oca stated. “The appellate court’s unanimous opinion affirming the ruling of the demo decide signifies overall vindication of our people today and our work. We trustworthy the method and it labored.”
Stuart Sobel, Grycon’s lawyer, stated Codina did not have “much ground” for filing an attraction. “This really should never have long gone this significantly,” Sobel explained. “We tried out to resolve this [long] just before we filed a lawsuit, as properly as throughout and just after the demo. We couldn’t get any traction.”
In his ruling, Thomas cited testimony and proof through the non-jury trial that showed Grycon experienced significantly concluded the condominium venture for the reason that 5350 Park gained its certificate of occupancy, and device closings experienced started months just before the building was ready for use.
