Donoe Project Stalls, Cost Jumps from $58 Million to $105 Million After Contractor, VIHA Sever Ties

A new contractor has been chosen to resume work on the stalled Donoe Estates public housing project, the Consortium has learned.

Officials broke ground on the 84-unit development in January 2021, announcing an expected cost of $58 million. During Monday’s special meeting of the Public Finance Authority Board, one director enquired about the status of the project.

“Right now they want an additional $35 million,” was the response from Director of the Office of Disaster Recovery Adrienne Williams-Octalien. In a followup conversation with the Consortium, Ms. Williams-Octalien explained that the agreement with initial developers Pennrose and GEC was terminated last September after mounting issues over several months bogged things down to a standstill. “There were some issues relative to delays in receiving materials, there was some environmental remediation that had to be taken care of that created some issues,” the ODR director said. Additionally, “some payment concerns arose in the project,” which, together with the other difficulties, convinced the developers that it was better to sever ties. By that time, approved changes to the project had brought costs up to $65.9 million

Ms. Octalien-Williams balked at estimating how close to complete the project currently is, but said that a new contractor – J. Benton Construction – had been selected. “They’ve submitted an application for an additional $47 million,” she said, explaining that that figure was now being vetted to ensure that the costs were justified. Should officials determine that the full valuation is supported, this would bring the total cost of the project to $105 million, almost double the initial $58 million allotted.