Billionaire heir H. Wayne Huizenga Jr. and his wife, Fonda, are caught in the crossfire over an alleged six-figure sum owed for doors and windows installed at the couple’s new waterfront mansion in West Palm Beach.
Boca Raton-based CitiQuiet Windows and Doors sued the Huizengas and their general contractor, Big Dog Construction Services, in Palm Beach County Circuit Court. The Jan. 4 complaint alleges CitiQuiet is owed $143,765 for work the company performed at the almost completed modern home at 3100 North Flagler Drive. The firm did receive $297,982 for some of its services, documents attached to the lawsuit show.
Bruce Loren, the attorney for Huizenga Jr. and his spouse, said CitiQuiet has no legal standing to go after his clients.
“We want to make it clear that this is a fight for Big Dog,” Loren said. “They know the Huizengas are a big name, and figured they could use it as leverage.”
David Rosenof, president of Coconut Creek-based Big Dog, declined comment. CitiQuiet’s lawyer Alan Raines did not respond to a voicemail and an email requesting comment.
In 2018, the Huizengas purchased the coastal property for $5 million from Hollywood celebrity Rosie O’Donnell. In 2020, the couple obtained a $6 million mortgage from Synovus Bank. The same year, Big Dog demolished a five-bedroom house previously on the site, and began construction in 2021, records show.
Huizenga Jr. is president of Fort Lauderdale-based Huizenga Holdings and CEO of Rybovich Superyacht Marina in West Palm Beach. His late father co-founded Waste Management, launched Blockbuster Video in the 1990s and previously owned South Florida sports teams: the Miami Marlins, the Miami Dolphins and the Florida Panthers.
The new two-story Huizenga homestead is about 98 percent completed, Loren said. “We are almost done,” he said. “We just have some punch list work left, and we have our certificate of occupancy.”
Subcontractor lawsuits are not uncommon, but the Huizengas had no direct interactions with CitiQuiet, Loren said. “We didn’t hire them, and we don’t have a contract with them,” he said. “The only deal we have is with Big Dog.”
Big Dog claims that CitiQuiet’s windows installation work is defective, and it is not entitled to its final payment, Loren said. Furthermore, CitiQuiet did not adhere to Florida’s construction lien law that provides subcontractors with a legal mechanism to collect alleged non-payment of work, Loren added.