A contractor helping to build a new 700,000 square-foot Red Bull facility in Arizona is going after the energy drink company’s property with a $10 million mechanics lien after allegedly going unpaid for their work.
On March 3, 2021, Dallas-based TD Industries, Inc. (TDI) filed a lien for $9,953,795.04 on the Red Bull property, alleging that the design-build firm in charge of the project refused to pay for their work on 10501 N Reems Road in the city of Waddell, Arizona, a suburb about 32 miles west of Phoenix.
Jointly owned by an international beverage conglomerate RRB Beverage Operations Inc., (RRB) in the county of Maricopa, Arizona, the building is Red Bull’s first beverage canning facility outside of Europe. RRB includes long-term partners Rauch Fruit Juices, Red Bull, and the Ball Corporation.
According to a mechanics lien claim filed in the Arizona courts on March 3, 2021, TDI asserts that the Arizona Foreign For-Profit Corporation, RRB, Arizona-based design-builder The Renaissance Companies (TRC), and themselves entered into an agreement on August 27, 2019, for work to be performed on the canned beverage distribution building.
TDI claims that TRC missed a total of seven payments from October to February 2021 — including a retainage payment which totaled nearly $4 million.
According to the claim — which entered both of TDI’s billings to TRC as Exhibit B and B-1 — payment was due 30 days after both sessions were completed. The claim proposes the “Claimant is entitled in interest accruing on the Billings under the Arizona Prompt Pay Act, A.R.S. Sec 32-1181.. at the annual rate of eighteen percent from the date that each Billing is due.”
This lien is interesting to highlight due to the chain this dispute takes, as well as the legal arguments made on its filing.
In contrast to a contractual claim, a mechanics lien gives an unpaid claimant the right to recover payment from the property itself, rather than directly from the non-paying customer.
It is important to note, however, that mechanics liens are broadly only intended for labor, materials furnished for, or improvements to the property. Arizona mechanics lien statutes do not allow for additional fees or penalties to be included in a claim amount.
The Red Bull facility’s arrival in Glendale, Arizona was met with fervent fanfare from both the government and locals, with its goal of being operable by this year and creating over 100 jobs.
“It’s quite a testament to what Arizona has to offer when three major brand names — Ball, Rauch and Red Bull — choose our state for a project of this size,” said Arizona Governor Doug Ducey of the project’s announcement in March 2019.
“We could not be more pleased that Arizona was selected for this operation, which will create over 140 new West Valley jobs. We congratulate all three partners on this exciting new development.”
At the time of reporting representatives from TDI, TDC, or RRB have yet to respond to requests for comment.