New pictures could provide clearer look into Harmon hotel

8/30/2011 | Construction Blog, Real Estate Blog

New evidence has been introduced in the Harmon Tower case we initially wrote about in our Aug. 19 post. MGM Resorts is fighting the $300 million lawsuit filed by its contractor, and it has now provided thousands of pictures that allegedly show the defects in construction that were created by the Perini Building Company.

This particular construction litigation has been ongoing, with neither party backing down on the issue of who is to blame for the problems with the Harmon hotel. The pictures MGM has provided, along with schematics, diagrams, and a report running to more than 275 pages, provide a clearer look into the tower.

Engineers allege that a 6.5 earthquake would be enough to bring down the Harmon Tower, and that the skeleton of the tower was improperly built. MGM wants to move forward with plans to implode the vacant building and then clean up the debris over a four-month period, but there are still concerns about both of those ideas. Implosion of a building is a difficult and precise issue, and having a large debris pile for four months could be a problem.

In disagreement with MGM, Perini blames MGM’s architects for problems, but also denies that the problems cannot be fixed. Perini wants to correct the problems, but MGM does not have confidence in the building company’s ability to do that. As such, the construction litigation drags on, and may continue well into the future. It appears very possible that the architect for MGM will also be brought into the lawsuit. If this dispute ever proceeds to a trial, the trial is expected to last six months. However, there is no start date set at this time.

Source: 8NewsNow.com, “Report, Pictures Detail Construction Defects at Harmon Tower,” Nathan Baca, Aug. 24, 2011