Staff Reports
The owners of a Tallahassee office complex, referred to in litigation as a “contaminated biological hot zone,” are suing a slew of state agencies for abandoning leases for office space in the property.
Gov. Rick Scott, in the 2016-17 state budget, approved stopping lease payments to Northwood Centre as of July 1, the start of the next fiscal year. The state is moving 1,500 workers from several state agencies to new buildings.
Last month, inspectors found 10 pounds of bat feces in the ceiling above the desk of Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation Secretary Ken Lawson. Mold and more animal droppings were also discovered.
Northwood Associates, who own the property that once was a shopping mall, sued this week in Leon County Circuit Civil Court, saying the budget language is “an unconstitutional impairment” of the state agencies’ leases.
“This is an unfortunate situation for all involved,” said Stuart Silberberg, a principal with Ajax Advisors, the parent company of Northwood Associates. “We hate having to take this action after so many years of a good partnership with the state (but) we believe this situation involves serious infringement of constitutional and contract law that can only be addressed through a court of law.”
The suit names Secretary of State Ken Detzner on behalf of the state, as well as the heads of the state agencies who had leases in Northwood Centre: The Department of Management Services; the Department of Business and Professional Regulation; the Department of Children and Families; the Department of Economic Opportunity and the Agency for State Technology.
Other state employees who work in the buildings have sued, claiming they were made sick by the poor air quality in their Northwood offices.
“The complaint notes that at all pertinent times, Northwood Associates has met its obligations under the leases and performed air quality testing, regularly furnishing reports on that testing to the various tenants,” according to a press release. Here’s more:
In June 2015, when DBPR raised various concerns and requested a collaborative effort to assess the issues, within one week Northwood Associates met with the parties and confirmed it was employing two expert consulting firms to address all issues.
Since then, the consultants and contractors have performed air testing and made assessments of all issues raised by the agencies, tested ductwork – at night and on weekends, in order to accommodate the agencies – and developed plans to modify the HVAC (air conditioning) system.
Those cooperative activities continued into last month, yet on March 2 DBPR and DMS sent Northwood Associates a letter demanding certain work and plans. Since receiving that letter, Northwood Associates has continued its affirmative activities in direct coordination with the agencies and advised them of its intentions to fully address the issues detailed in the letter.
