Hotel developer wants $250K back from Fredericton
A hotel developer in Fredericton is asking council to reconsider its decision to withhold a $250,000 performance bond because the new Hilton Garden Inn opened three months late.
Aquilini Properties LP never completed the construction of the hotel on Queen Street on time. As a result, council voted to keep the money last fall.
Originally scheduled to open in the fall of 2017, Aquilini Properties LP was granted an extension by city council to finish the project by May 2018.
But the company didn't hit that deadline either — and didn't open until August.
Walther Lauffer, vice-president of Aquilini Properties LP, called council's decision to withhold the money a "slap in the face."
"We essentially delivered on the project."
An unusual project
Lauffer said this was an unusual project with circumstances out of their control, including 40 weeks of delays, which started with the demolition of the buildings on the site.
"Traditionally, you don't necessarily find, when you excavate, 18 archaeology finds that needed to be catalogued, and needed to be looked after. Obviously we did."
In January 2017, hotel construction came to a halt when a man was killed while he was working on the building.
At one point during construction, Lauffer said, the company had to replace the contractor on the project because it looked as if construction wasn't going to be ready in time.
And the historic flood in April 2018 delayed the project by at least two weeks, according to Lauffer.
Lauffer said he was surprised when council voted last fall to withhold the performance bond because the timelines were subject to adjustment based on a force majeure condition in the development agreement — meaning factors that were beyond reasonable control of the developer.
"We had communication with the city, staff, council — that here's the reasons why we delayed."
Lauffer made his case at Monday night's council-in-committee meeting.
No decision was made during the meeting, and the mayor didn't indicate if they would have another vote, but said council would take Lauffer's presentation into consideration.
Coun. Bruce Grandy said during the meeting that given the reasons for the delays, council should give Aquilini Properties LP's concerns some consideration.
"When you're in the middle of a project and you change contractors, you know you're going to have delays and that other contractor has to get up to speed," Grandy said.
Grandy also pointed to projects that the city has done and failed to meet timelines, as an example.
"When I look at our construction project on Regent and Queen, and it's supposed to be done at a certain time, and we impacted business much more than you [Aquilini Properties LP] did."
Lauffer said he doesn't know when he'll hear back from council it's too early to say if Aquilini Properties LP will consider legal action.
The company also owns the Crowne Plaza Fredericton-Lord Beaverbrook across the street from the Hilton Garden Inn.
Lauffer said he doesn't know how this will impact future developments in New Brunswick's capital city.
"I don't think a message like this needs to be talked about openly to other developers because obviously it would not be something that other developers would appreciate."
