As far as the public knew, the $1.4B expansion of the Washington State Convention Center was humming along until May when it was announced that the expansion team discontinued their relationship with the Skanska-Hunt joint contractor partnership. The move not only came as a shock to Seattle but also Skanska-Hunt, who called the move "shocking and tremendously disappointing."
So shocked and disappointed were they, they took the issue to court last week where a King County Superior Court judge who "denied Skanska-Hunt’s bid to be reinstated as the contractor, but granted the request to stop the convention center from starting to select a new contractor."
The issue now goes to trial where it will be determined if the convention center acted in good faith when it fired the contractor partnership. That trial is set for roughly four months from now.
In the meantime, the permitting and planning processes are moving forward and the expansion is still scheduled to begin next year. As for who the contractor will be to actually build it all, well, that's the as-of-yet unanswered question.
· Court ruling leaves Washington State Convention Center expansion in limbo [ST]
· Contractor Dropped From $1.4B Convention Center Expansion Plans [CS]