Brown Construction has $5.6 million lien against CA Ventures over 805 Riverfront in West Sac

More details have emerged on liens over unpaid work for West Sacramento apartment and retail project 805 Riverfront.

A mechanic’s lien filed by primary contractor Brown Construction Inc. earlier this month is for $5.6 million — more than twice the total amount of other liens filed against Brown by subcontractors on the project.

Neither Brown, based in West Sacramento, nor Chicago-based project developer CA Ventures returned messages seeking comment Friday.

Also, the lien states that Brown is seeking 8.5% annual interest on the unpaid amount. The lien doesn’t state precisely what work was performed but not paid for under the lien, though the amount is about $1 million less than 10% of the project’s overall estimated cost of $66 million.

A separate filing by CA Ventures suggests some changes to the terms of the initial $55.4 million loan the development company received in 2020 for the project.

According to the new filing, dated Sept. 8, the completion date for the project is extended to Dec. 31, 2023, even though pre-leasing for the 285-apartment project began last month. Some construction was still underway during a project tour in late August.

The filing with the Yolo County Clerk-Recorder’s office also invokes a change-of-control-of-borrower clause. Such clauses are invoked to protect the lender in case the borrower comes under new ownership.

CA Ventures’ loan is set to mature May 30, 2024.

Those filings, in addition to more than $2.5 million in mechanic’s liens filed previously, suggest trouble for CA Ventures, which in the last month has run into problems both with unpaid rent on its headquarters in Chicago, a lawsuit from creditors and delays on a student housing project in Minneapolis, according to news reports.