Attorneys for the CityCenter resort complex on the Las Vegas Strip asked a judge Wednesday to approve additional testing of the flawed Harmon Hotel — work that would precede the planned implosion of the building.
The tests — including videotaped and photographed measurements, examinations and so-called destructive testing — are needed to collect evidence for use in the massive lawsuit over unpaid bills for construction of the $279 million Harmon, and counterclaims that construction defects there have left the building unusable and in danger of collapsing in an earthquake.
The destructive testing has involved jackhammering away of concrete to inspect the building’s underlying support structure. Reports filed in court show engineers identifying problems generally involving improperly installed steel reinforcing bars.
The Harmon was planned as a 47-floor tower but instead was capped at 26 floors. CityCenter says concerns over the construction defects drove the decision to reduce the building’s planned height.
That decision came in 2009, when CityCenter thought the building could be completed and opened. CityCenter general contractor Perini Building Co. claims market conditions — as opposed to defects — led CityCenter not to build the top 21 floors.
After it became clear the project was headed to litigation, work on the Harmon was halted in early 2010, just after MGM Resorts International started opening the rest of its half-owned $8.5 billion CityCenter development. The Harmon continues to sit unused and empty.
Perini insists the building can be repaired and disputes an engineer’s conclusion it would collapse in an earthquake.
But the fate of the Harmon is not up to Perini, CityCenter attorneys said in their request for testing filed in Clark County District Court.
“The Clark County Building Division has ordered CityCenter — as the owner of the Harmon — to propose a plan of action to abate the risk that the building will collapse in a code-level earthquake,” CityCenter’s court filing said. “The fact that Perini disputes that the building would collapse (especially considering that Perini has a litigation incentive to dispute that conclusion) is irrelevant.
“As the owner of the building, CityCenter must do what is necessary to abate the safety risk.”
A Nov. 30 hearing is planned on CityCenter’s request to continue destructive testing of the building and establishment of a protocol for preservation of evidence.
Court-approved testing had been conducted through November 2010, but was stopped at that time when the entire CityCenter construction litigation case was put on hold so the Nevada Supreme Court could decide if certain CityCenter legal professionals could continue to work on the case.
Now that the Supreme Court has decided that issue in favor of the CityCenter attorneys,the case is active again and the parties have resumed filing briefs with Clark County District Court Judge Elizabeth Gonzalez.
Perini is already fighting efforts by CityCenter to implode the Harmon. In its most recent court filing, the company submitted a report from its engineer insisting the building can be repaired.
Perini has blamed problems at the Harmon on MGM Resorts design errors and has charged MGM Resorts wants to fell the building because it has no use for it during the recession that has left Las Vegas hotel-casino operators struggling to fill their hotel rooms.
CityCenter attorneys disputed such assertions in Wednesday’s court filing.
“Perini would have the world believe that CityCenter is willing to spend over $30 million of its own money to demolish a perfectly good building so that it can increase the damages that it may recover in this litigation,” the filing said. “CityCenter hopes that the absurdity of this argument (which is itself a litigation tactic) is obvious. In any event, Perini’s opinion regarding the scope of the defects and the proper method of (risk) abatement is irrelevant to this motion.”