In a matter of days, a judge in Massachusetts will hear arguments tied to a proposed $600 million courthouse for Springfield - and the $2 billion contract that comes with it.
Two developers who were passed over for the project are challenging the winning bid. Now, the Massachusetts Attorney General's office is weighing in.
When filing for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction, the plaintiffs - Springfield Tower Square LLC and USPB JV LLC - named the following as defendants: Liberty Junction, the winning group, as well as the state's Division of Capital Asset Management and Maintenance (DCAMM), the agency that picked them.
Filing in opposition to the challenge this week on behalf of DCAMM, the Office of Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell laid out why one developer was picked over the others.
The filing detailed how none of Tower Square's proposals to replace the Roderick L. Ireland Courthouse cracked the top four plans ranked by a selection committee - and that at least one posed logistical problems.
The AG's office also noted the USPB JV bid to build a courthouse off of Dwight Street did make the top four - but ultimately "cost the taxpayers approximately $420 million more than Liberty Junction’s proposal."
Like Liberty Junction's own opposition filing, the AG's office also claimed various conflict of interest accusations made by the two LLCs were unfounded, including accusations focused on one of Liberty Junction's development partners, John Barros, who is also the interim head of the Massachusetts Convention Center Authority.
The filing also referred to both parties as "two disgruntled proposers" that "cannot accept the truth — their proposals do not measure up to" Liberty Junction's.
The winning proposal is looking to build a facility off of 125 Liberty Street, near Union Station - ultimately replacing the courthouse downtown, which was previously declared a "sick building" and the source of a class-action lawsuit.
Meanwhile, on Thursday afternoon, both LLCs announced they were calling on the state's Inspector General to investigate the $2 billion contract Liberty Junction stands to receive.
The announcement, forwarded to WAMC, made multiple claims, including an accusation that Liberty Junction's proposal did not satisfy the courthouse RFP "site-control requirement."
Next week's court hearing is Aug. 11.
