The Novel RiNo apartment project is seen in fall 2022. (BusinessDen file)
Seven-figure liens have piled up at an apartment project in RiNo as subcontractors complain that their invoices have gone unpaid by its developer and general contractor.
Novel RiNo, at 1300-1350 40th St., is a complex of 483 units across two buildings topping out at 12 stories, along with retail space and a rooftop cocktail lounge. Available rooms there range from $1,900 a month for a 500-square-foot studio to $5,500 for a two-bedroom.
The complex’s ground floor will be occupied by a Filipino restaurant from a James Beard Award finalist, the Sunnyside-based breakfast spot Odie B’s, and a Corvus Coffee location.
But some of the subcontractors who built that pricy new place are still waiting to get paid.
Between April and June, five companies filed liens totaling $5.2 million. That has forced its developer, Charlotte-based Crescent Communities, to obtain $6.7 million in surety bonds and ask a judge in Denver to substitute those in place of the liens. The request is pending.
Novel RiNo is seen on Thursday, July 25, 2024. (Justin Wingerter/BusinessDen)
“Prompt removal of the liens is required to allow Crescent to obtain funding for the project and ensure timely payment to contractors performing work,” its lawyers wrote July 18.
To date, funding has been provided by a $113 million loan from Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp. and a $60 million loan from JP Morgan, according to deeds those two banks hold. It is not known how much more money is needed; Crescent declined an interview request.
“We are aware of the liens and, as policy, do not discuss legal matters publicly,” it said.
The subcontractors that filed mechanic’s liens also declined offers to discuss them with BusinessDen. They are MR Drywall of Ohio (owed $1.8 million), Baker Concrete, also of Ohio ($1.5 million), Power Design in Florida ($1.2 million), BFS Group of Littleton ($500,000) and Builder’s Choice Coating in Texas ($250,000). The project’s general contractor, Arvada-based Milender White, did not answer requests for an interview about Novel RiNo.
“BFS Group is entitled to foreclose its mechanic’s lien against the real property,” that company claimed in an ongoing lawsuit July 19, “and to have the property sold at a sale.”
The Novel RiNo apartment project is seen in fall 2022. (BusinessDen file)
Seven-figure liens have piled up at an apartment project in RiNo as subcontractors complain that their invoices have gone unpaid by its developer and general contractor.
Novel RiNo, at 1300-1350 40th St., is a complex of 483 units across two buildings topping out at 12 stories, along with retail space and a rooftop cocktail lounge. Available rooms there range from $1,900 a month for a 500-square-foot studio to $5,500 for a two-bedroom.
The complex’s ground floor will be occupied by a Filipino restaurant from a James Beard Award finalist, the Sunnyside-based breakfast spot Odie B’s, and a Corvus Coffee location.
But some of the subcontractors who built that pricy new place are still waiting to get paid.
Between April and June, five companies filed liens totaling $5.2 million. That has forced its developer, Charlotte-based Crescent Communities, to obtain $6.7 million in surety bonds and ask a judge in Denver to substitute those in place of the liens. The request is pending.
Novel RiNo is seen on Thursday, July 25, 2024. (Justin Wingerter/BusinessDen)
“Prompt removal of the liens is required to allow Crescent to obtain funding for the project and ensure timely payment to contractors performing work,” its lawyers wrote July 18.
To date, funding has been provided by a $113 million loan from Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp. and a $60 million loan from JP Morgan, according to deeds those two banks hold. It is not known how much more money is needed; Crescent declined an interview request.
“We are aware of the liens and, as policy, do not discuss legal matters publicly,” it said.
The subcontractors that filed mechanic’s liens also declined offers to discuss them with BusinessDen. They are MR Drywall of Ohio (owed $1.8 million), Baker Concrete, also of Ohio ($1.5 million), Power Design in Florida ($1.2 million), BFS Group of Littleton ($500,000) and Builder’s Choice Coating in Texas ($250,000). The project’s general contractor, Arvada-based Milender White, did not answer requests for an interview about Novel RiNo.
“BFS Group is entitled to foreclose its mechanic’s lien against the real property,” that company claimed in an ongoing lawsuit July 19, “and to have the property sold at a sale.”
