Contractor sues developer for $1.3M over unpaid bill

This story first appeared on BusinessDen.com, a BizWest news partner.

The owner of X Denver, an apartment building and private club in the Union Station North neighborhood, has been sued by a construction company that says it owes $1.3 million.

ARCO/Murray, a national builder based in the Chicago area, filed a lawsuit May 18 in Denver District Court against ENR Denver Investment LLC. That entity is affiliated with Chicago-based The X Company, which developed X Denver and is currently building a second project locally.

Located at 3100 Inca St., X Denver has 813 beds in apartments and co-living spaces on a dozen floors, along with a private club that includes a rooftop pool. ARCO/Murray broke ground in 2018 and completed its work in 2021. The lawsuit claims The X Company hasn’t finished paying it for that work.

As a result, ARCO/Murray asked a Denver judge to place a mechanic’s lien on the building and order The X Company to pay the general contractor “no less than $1,334,920,” plus interest and fees.

The next day, The X Company’s attorneys asked the judge to instead substitute a $2 million bond in place of the mechanic’s lien. The move, if approved by the court, would still require them to pay the alleged debt but would free them from the lien and threat of foreclosure.

The X Company is developing similar buildings in four other cities and is currently constructing X Denver 2, a 641-bed apartment building in Arapahoe Square that is expected to open in the fall of 2023, according to The X Company’s website. Earlier this year, the company also purchased land at 20th and Welton streets for a planned third local project.

The X Company and X Denver did not respond to requests for comment on the lawsuit.

ARCO/Murray is represented by attorneys Matthew Ninneman and Francesca Tait with the Denver law firm Hall & Evans.

The X Company is represented by Christopher Groen and Kirsten Kube with Fox Rothschild. They did not respond to a request for comment.

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