Builder files $25M suit against Kings on downtown tower project

A new lawsuit has accused the Sacramento Kings and its development partners of mismanaging their 16-story hotel and condo project downtown, leading to construction confusion, massive budget overruns and tens of millions of dollars in still-unpaid bills.

Swinerton Builders, the San Francisco-based general contractor hired in 2014 to build the tower, says the Kings and their partners, JMA Ventures, owe them and subcontractors $25.7 million, according to a suit filed Friday in Sacramento Superior Court.

The suit contends the problems stemmed from “radical” changes the owners called for at the last minute to turn an ordinary hotel tower into a sculptural showpiece but failed to come to grips with the costs of doing so.

In a statement issued Monday, Eric Foster, Swinerton president and chief operating officer, accused the ownership group of being in denial for years about the project’s cost realities.

“From the beginning, ownership mismanaged the project, with continual changes in leadership, vision and scope,” Foster wrote. “We intervened early and often about the cost impacts of the dramatically changing project, but ownership was in denial.

“We have been forced to take the necessary legal action to ensure our subcontractors and our company get paid for the work completed.”

The tower, which sits at 5th and J streets, adjacent to the Golden 1 Center arena, is a joint partnership of the Kings and San Francisco-based JMA Ventures. Their partnership goes by the name SG Downtown LLC.