MariahCorp sued over nonpayment on massive Broomfield development

BROOMFIELD — Dallas-based architecture firm HKS Inc. is suing MariahCorp LLC alleging nonpayment for its services in designing a hotel and conference center for the ambitious Barnett Parke development.

Barnett Parke advertises itself as a futuristic community with 38 mid- to high-rise buildings in the Denver metro area. The brochures for the development emphasize its commitments to sustainability, including plans for 100% solar power, a synthetic water replacement for water features and a monorail.

HKS alleges that MariahCorp, a company bearing a Westminster address in Secretary of State records, paid only a portion of an agreed fee of $120,000; HKS is suing over the remaining $80,000. In documents filed with Broomfield County District Court May 9, HKS also alleges that MariahCorp requested additional services at no additional charge even after being requested to pay fees to HKS.

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HKS alleges fraud, entering into evidence emails from MariahCorp representatives promising to pay by certain dates that were then missed. The lawsuit alleges these claims were made to avoid the account being sent into collections.

Documents filed by HKS also call into question what level of funding the Barnett Parke development has secured. Line 42 of the initial complaint alleges that MariahCorp misrepresented its funds in order to delay payment.

“Defendants knowingly falsely represented the status of the funding of the project and actively undertook efforts to conceal that status,” court filings say.

In response to the lawsuit, MariahCorp CEO Randall Barnett pointed to the departure of MariahCorp’s controller as the cause.

“I’m sure it will be taken care of fairly quickly. We have a lot of invoices run through, and I think they’ll find that we very seldom ever have something fall through the cracks like that. We have an otherwise perfect record,” Barnett said.

HKS Inc.’s counsel did not respond to requests for comment. 

The address associated with MariahCorp, 14330 Zuni St. Parkway (sic), is open space owned by the city of Westminster. McKay Overlook LLC, another entity associated with Barnett, sold the parcel to Mariners Strategic Fund II LLC in 2011, which sold it to the city of Westminster in 2012.

“I think somebody forgot to change the address in the secretary of state system,” Barnett said. 

Barnett Parke would need a great deal of money to come to fruition. The ambitious project’s website has announced plans for 38 mid- to high-rise buildings containing offices and residential units, as well as lifestyle amenities.

The website has also begun collecting contact information from parties interested in leasing an apartment, purchasing a condo or renting office space. A brochure available on the website advertises a total of 2,516 residential units and 12.42 million square feet total in the development. The website predicts a four-year buildout for the development.

A graphic on the website describes the development’s location as between just south of Colorado E470 to just north of Colorado Highway 7 along Interstate 25. A potential location could be at the northeast corner of Highway 7 and I-25, but plans for the unplatted site were neither confirmed nor denied by Barnett. No official sale has been recorded with any of the four counties that have jurisdiction in the area depicted in the graphic.