Florida Construction Lawyer Blog
The Real Deal (www.therealdeal.com) chronicled the firm’s result in securing $6.4 million in damages from an affiliate of Codina Partners in a ruling that found the developer wrongfully terminated Grycon, the general contractor that built its 5350 Park condominium project in Downtown Doral. Stuart Sobel, the lead counsel for the contractor, was quoted in the article, which is a follow-up to the real estate news website’s first report on the case from August 2020. Today’s article reads:
. . . On Tuesday, following a non-jury trial, Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge William Thomas ruled against 5350 Park LLC, the development entity managed by Codina Executive Chairman Armando Codina and the firm’s CEO Ana-Marie Codina Barlick. In 2020, Fort Lauderdale-based Grycon sued 5350 Park, alleging Codina Partners fired the general contractor without cause in order to avoid paying a final bill of $3.6 million. 5350 Park has a pending countersuit that was filed last year.
Coral Gables-based Codina will now have to pay nearly double what the developer allegedly owed, plus attorney fees and court costs, according to Thomas’ order. “The greater weight of the evidence establishes 5350’s termination of Grycon for cause was wrongful,” Thomas wrote.
“Judge Thomas ruled [Codina] didn’t have a right to terminate my client,” Grycon’s attorney Stuart Sobel said. “I don’t know what the real motivation is, but [Codina] has held off paying us a boatload of dough for almost three years now.”. . .