Miami Heat sister company, Basketball Properties Limited, sued the city’s premier architectural firm, Arquitectonica, on Christmas Eve.
Basketball Properties, which manages AmericanAirlines Arena (owned by Miami-Dade County), claimed Arquitectonica was in over its head when it took on the project, and that the firm appeared more concerned with making a name for itself and a profit than with meeting deadlines and sticking to a budget.
According to the Miami Herald, Basketball Properties wants Arquitectonica to pay at least $8 million to cover cost overruns and years of legal expenses. In addition to wasted manpower and materials, one of the costlier mistakes included failing to measure the size of air handling units – requiring already constructed walls to be moved and an entirely new duct system to be put in place. This error cost $1.2 million, according to the lawsuit. [Miami Herald] — Kristina Puga