Taylor Woodrow Construction to Be Phased Out of Business : Builder: Planned closing of the firm, which is embroiled in lawsuits over work on John Wayne Airport, will be completed by July.
Taylor Woodrow Construction California Ltd., a subsidiary of a British-owned company best known locally for building the $64-million Thomas F. Riley Terminal at John Wayne Airport, will complete a planned phaseout by July, officials said Monday.
The closing of the construction firm will have no bearing on its residential sister company, Taylor Woodrow Homes California, which will continue operations. Both are subsidiaries of Taylor Woodrow plc. in London.
The decision to close Taylor Woodrow Construction was made two years ago, said Judy Johnson, a spokeswoman for the Irvine-based subsidiary. At the time, California and much of the West were on the cusp of what would become a sharp economic decline, and the decision to close was based “on global economic conditions.”
Back then, the company had an office staff of about 50 and a construction work force that adjusted to the workload. The company has not bid on any new construction jobs since the decision to close. Now, there are only about 10 office workers left, according to Johnson.
Taylor Woodrow Construction was hired to build the terminal and a parking structure at John Wayne Airport, but came under sharp criticisms after the job became plagued by cost overruns and delays.
The Riley terminal was supposed to have cost $42 million. But costs exceeded $64 million during construction, and Taylor Woodrow later filed a lawsuit that demands $28 million more that it says it is owed. The firm is also seeking $7 million relating to a breach of contract dispute over its firing as the prime contractor for construction of the $25-million parking garage at the airport. At the time Taylor Woodrow was removed, the project was eight months behind schedule.
Taylor Woodrow blamed hundreds of design changes demanded by the county for driving up costs and causing construction delays.
The company also built a $33-million civic center for the San Diego County city of Oceanside that was marked by allegations of defects. The city and Taylor Woodrow settled the dispute two years ago; the city had contended that the building had leaky ceilings, a flawed exterior finish, cracked walkways and other problems.
Taylor Woodrow said at the time that the building’s architect and subcontractors were responsible for the problems.
Among the other projects built by Taylor Woodrow in the past few years were a stadium at Cal State Fullerton and a courthouse in Riverside.
