With more construction taking place at the massive Microsoft data center in Quincy, WA, at least seven contractors have already filed over $70 million in mechanics lien claims against the tech giant’s property.
The general contractor and six subcontractors hired to work on the expansion of Microsoft’s 800,000-square-foot Quincy data facility, known as the Columbia Data Center, have filed for $70.9M in liens against the GC and Microsoft since December of 2019. Contractors can place a mechanics lien on property if they do not receive payment for work or materials.
Microsoft’s expansion project faces seven lien claims involving the construction of 72 diesel generators and 136 cooling towers at the Columbia Data Center, located 160 miles east of Seattle.
Each mechanics lien claims as filed with the Grant County clerk’s office pursuant to Washington State statutes governing mechanics liens.
Microsoft Owes Seven Construction Businesses $70M+
The seven contractors are owed a total of $70,927,648.75 following an expansion project at Microsoft’s Columbia Data Center, located at 1515 Port Industrial Way, Quincy, WA. The entire property spans 270 acres.
The largest of the claims – totaling $45,390,509 – was filed on June 4, 2020 by DPR Construction, hired by Microsoft to serve as the project’s general contractor. The GC first contributed to the project in May of 2018 and wrapped up work in March of 2020.
DPR Construction is now linked to the remaining six known lien claims at Microsoft’s data center totaling $25,537,139.70 in unpaid construction work to the subcontractors.
Following a partial release filed on May 29, 2020, subcontractor OEG, Inc. currently has the largest active lien filed against the GC at $13,401,054.56. OEG’s original lien was valued at $20.8 million from April of 2020.
Apollo Mechanical Contractors is currently owed $6,374,227.77 from DPR Construction as of June 15, 2020, after another partial payment. The subcontractor was originally owed $6.79 million from their original filing in April.
On December 23, 2019, Steelfab of Texas, Inc. placed a lien valued at $2,865,763.25, which is still active and has not been released to date.
Performance Contracting, Inc. is currently owed $1,351,956.42 from DPR Construction following a partial payment that was made on July 27, 2020.
The remaining two liens filed against DPR Construction are each six-figure unpaid work claims, combining for a value of $1.54M.
As of July 6, 2020, William Winkler Co. still has an active lien claim totaling $830,203.51 against the GC, while Granite Construction Company is owed $713,934.24 as of July 2, 2020.
Two subcontractors have now taken additional legal measures against Microsoft and their counterpart contractors by enforcing their lien claims.
On August 4, 2020, Performance Contracting filed the lien foreclosure with the Grant County Superior Court, citing Microsoft as the only defendant in the lawsuit.
Exactly two weeks later on August 18th, Steelfab of Texas filed their lien foreclosure, which lists several defendants, including Microsoft, DPR Construction, and the remaining five subcontractors.
Additional Construction at Microsoft’s Columbia Data Center
The liens come as Microsoft is already in the process of more expansion construction at the Columbia Data Center for a different project at 501 Port Industrial Way.
In October of 2019, construction worth $26.6M broke ground at the facility to expand the data center. According to The Quincy Valley Post-Register, Microsoft’s data capacity will increase by nearly 3% for its customers following the project’s completion.