A contractor that’s left millions of dollars in park construction projects incomplete in Fayetteville appeared to have insured itself, while legal action is pending, according to city records.
Mohammad Construction LLC, which changed its name to Apex Contracting Group last month, received several million-dollar contracts with the city in 2022 and 2023.
Attempts to reach Mohammad Construction LLC and its owner, Mohammad Mohammad, through numbers and emails listed with the city and North Carolina Secretary of State, were unsuccessful as of Monday.
The projects and awards were: $1.2 million to build 1.2 miles of sidewalk on Rosehill Road, from Country Club Drive to Shaw Mills Road, in June 2022; $3.84 million for tennis center site work in Mazarick Park in June 2022; $1.34 million for Mazarick Park Tennis Center courts in February 2023; and $1.46 million for Mable C. Smith Park projects that included parking lot expansion, a new splash pad, playground renovation and walking trail improvements in February 2023.
On May 14, city spokesman Loren Bymer said construction at Mable Smith Park and work on the site for the tennis courts at Mazarick Park “stopped due to the contractor abandoning” the projects.
The city announced in July 2023 that Mohammad Construction was removed from the Rosehill Road sidewalk project due to a lack of progress.
How much was paid out?
In an email statement Thursday, Bymer said legal action is pending for the unfinished projects, and the city is seeking bids to find a new contractor to complete the work.
“Currently there is an adequate amount of money left in the budget for each project budget to bring it to completion,” Bymer said. “In the event that more money is needed, the City will then reach out to the bonding company for each project.”
If the new contractor can keep the project within budget, he said, “there will be no reason to involve the bonding company.”
“There should be no additional cost to taxpayers so long as projects remain in the budget or in the event we involve the bonding company,” he said. “The only thing this has cost the residents is time.”
The tennis center contracts and the Mable C. Smith contract were awarded prior to Mohammad Construction “parting ways with the city,” he said.
City records provided to The Fayetteville Observer show that the last invoice date Mohammad Construction sent the city was Sept. 26, 2023.
Last month, Bymer said the former Mohammad Construction was paid more than $3.67 million for the tennis site work; more than $1.21 million for the construction of the tennis court; and more than $645,500 for Mable C. Smith Park.
While the jobs weren’t finished, funds paid were for services rendered and the work that had been completed, he said.
“The City of Fayetteville only pays contractors for work that is completed to standard,” Bymer said.
What work was completed?
Former city spokesman Devon Smith told The Fayetteville Observer in September 2023, that the Rosehill Road project was only 30% completed by Mohammad Construction.
City records show that the splash pad and playground work at Mable C. Smith Park was completed in February 2023.
Records from January 2024 also show that the last task Mohammad Construction completed for Mable C. Smith Park was applying for a framing inspection.
During a council work session Monday, Rob Stone, the city’s construction management director, said that the work remaining at Mable C. Smith Park is a building, which is about 50% completed.
“The big concern was some problems that we saw internally they had put some deficiencies that couldn’t pass inspections … ,” Stone said. “It’s just some small things they need to correct.”
Stone said about $700,000 is left in the contract, and he expects the project to be put out again for bid within 30 days and completed in 4-6 months.
City records show that tennis court light work at Mazarick Park was complete as of January 2024 and that redesign for the tennis center was in progress. In July 2023, the building completion date was extended because of changing the design to a metal building.
Records posted to an agenda for Monday’s City Council work session show that design work for the tennis center is complete, but construction work for the tennis center will go out for rebid.
Stone told council members that officials are working to combine what’s left for the tennis site work and tennis courts into one contract.
He said officials are detemining what work was completed and what still needs to be done.
He estimated that about 75% of work was complete for the site work, and about 20% was complete for the courts.
About $715,000 remains for those contracts, which Stone said he expects to go back out for bid in 2-3 weeks.
Parks and Recreation Director Michael Gibson said he does not expect the city to add more money for what’s left.
How are contractors chosen?
Bymer said contractors who bid on city projects are reviewed during the request for proposals and request for qualifications process, which city officials evaluate based on asking several questions to other cities that contractors list as references. note
Questions include:
• Has the city done business with the contractor before?
• How many projects were done with the contractor?
• What type of projects were done with the contractor?
• How long were the projects?
• Were change orders issued, or was the project time extended?
• Was the job completed on schedule and within budget?
• Would you do business with the contractor again?
• Did you have any safety concerns with the contractor?
Former parks vice chair: Fayetteville paid a contractor millions, but projects aren’t done
Bonds
Records provided to The Fayetteville Observer show that the Rose Hill Road sidewalk project surety bond for Mohammad Construction was executed in June 2022 with California-based Wings of Eagle Fund 1 LLC represented by Ronald Batiste.
Batiste could not be reached for comment Thursday, and a voicemail associated with his number was full.
The contract also stated that the project would be a joint venture with Eagle Environmental & Construction Inc., which shares the same 1485 Bayshore Blvd., Suite 374 address in San Francisco as Wings of Eagle Fund 1 LLC.
Filings with the North Carolina secretary of state also show that Wings of Eagle Funds 1 shares the same North Carolina office with Mohammad Mohammad at 5109 Hollyridge Drive, Suite 102 in Raleigh.
Records show that the Mable C. Smith Park Recreation Center project awarded to Mohammad Construction was bonded in March 2023 by New Life Fidelity Inc.
Filings with the North Carolina Secretary of State show that Mohammad Mohammad also owns New Life Fidelity Inc. and that its 3919 Beryl Road address in Raleigh is the site of a post office.
Mohammad Mohammad also provided the performance bond for the Mazarick Park tennis court project through New Life Fidelty LLC in March 2023.
Can contractors bond themselves?
Bymer said contractors can’t bond themselves in Fayetteville.
An assistant professor with the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Government said state law requires performance and payment bonds when contracts for a public works project exceed $300,000.
The law requires that performance and payment bonds “be executed by one or more surety companies legally authorized to do business in the State of North Carolina,” said Crista M. Cuccaro, a teaching assistant professor of public law and government for the School of Government.
“Given the purpose of a surety, it would seem counterintuitive (and highly unlikely) to have a construction company serving as the surety for a bond,” Cuccaro said.
Other bidders
According to city records, other bidders on the projects that Mohammad Mohammad Construction was awarded were:
• Cooper Tacia General Contracting Co. bid $3.84 million for the Mazarick Park Tennis Center site work project and was bonded with the Gray Insurance Co.
• Lanier Construction Co. bid $1.95 million for the Rosehill Road sidewalk project and was bonded with Liberty Mutual Surety, The Ohio Casualty Insurance Co.
• Msquare Construction Inc. bid $1.73 million for the Mable C. Smith project and was bonded with American Alternative Insurance Corp.
• W.B. Brawley Co. bid $2.25 million for the Mable C. Smith Park project and was bonded with Travelers Casualty and Surety Co. of America.
Staff writer Rachael Riley can be reached at [email protected] or 910-486-3528.
This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: Update on the contractor leaving Fayetteville projects incomplete
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