The City of Gilroy has received $1.935 million in settlement
money from a suit with the architecture firm that built the Gilroy
Police station, City Attorney Linda Callon said this week.
The City of Gilroy has received $1.935 million in settlement money from a suit with the architecture firm that built the Gilroy Police station, City Attorney Linda Callon said this week.
Monies from the settlement came in this month and in March, City Finance Director Christina Turner said.
“I think the settlement was a fair settlement, and the judge definitely felt that at the time,” said Andy Faber, an attorney for Berliner-Cohen, which represents the City of Gilroy.
Although WLC paid the bulk of the settlement, various subcontractors also contributed to the settlement amount after WLC sued them over the matter, Faber said.
On Jan. 11, the council approved the settlement amount for the suit against Rancho Cucamonga-based WLC Architects, following an agreement between the various legal parties on Jan. 8. The city previously settled with project contractor S.J. Amoroso after construction on the police station was delayed by about a year. However, project delays stemmed from defective plans from WLC Architects as well, according to city officials.
The city had problems with WLC Architects’ initial cost estimates, and WLC redesigned the project as a result. WLC initially predicted it would cost about $17.8 million to carry out plans for the police station, but that cost later ballooned to about $26.7 million. As a result, the city was forced to scale back its plans.
Although initial problems with cost estimates were not included as part of the suit, Faber said it was unclear whether the mistakes in the revised plans resulting from those cost estimate errors were also in the original plans.
WLC Architects officials did not return a phone call Wednesday.
