Suffolk Construction Files $20M Lawsuit Against Behring Cos. Over Oakland Apartment Tower
General contractor Suffolk Construction has filed a lawsuit against Behring Cos., the Danville-based developer of a 452-unit luxury apartment tower in Uptown Oakland.
The $20M lawsuit, filed Aug. 16 in Alameda County Superior Court, says Behring is in breach of contract over construction delays at the 1900 Broadway project, according to the San Francisco Business Times.
In 2020, Behring and the Massachusetts-headquartered Suffolk entered a contract to construct the 39-story transit-oriented development above the 19th Street BART station, with additional uses including nearly 54K SF of office space, 40K SF of amenities and a fleet of high-tech vehicles for tenants.
The lawsuit alleges the developer didn't pay predevelopment or management costs for the project and that Behring delayed the project’s start date by six months, from November 2019 to March 2020, according to the SFBT.
Additional allegations include that Behring didn’t pay for change order requests, caused delays relating to power and utility issues, delayed storefront door hardware and cabinets, failed to pay subcontractor escalation costs and failed to show design documents on time.
Neither Behring nor Suffolk responded to Bisnow's requests for comment.
SF Yimby reported that a topping-out ceremony was held in March and leasing began in April. The outlet also reported that the parking process at the building is entirely automated, using technology developed in packaging warehouses.
From studios to four-bedroom suites, all units have floor-to-ceiling windows and “state-of-the-art tech packages,” according to Behring’s website. Some of the units also come with 500 SF balconies.
Behring’s website says units priced up to $7K a month are still available at the Solomon Cordwell Buenz-designed project.
1900 Broadway is an EB-5 project, which allows foreign investors to obtain a green card for fronting a minimum of $800K toward a U.S. development that creates at least 10 jobs.
Also in Uptown Oakland, Behring recently acquired Kaiser Permanente's iconic 20-story office tower at 1950 Franklin St. for nearly $14.4M. Plans are still unclear for the 446K SF property.
San Francisco bedroom communities in the East Bay have seen a glut of new multifamily supply over the past five to seven years.
“The effects of supply pressure are being felt most acutely in bayside submarkets like Downtown Oakland and Berkeley,” according to a second-quarter NAI NorCal report.
