Tutor Perini Corporation Announces an Interim Court Ruling on Harmon Tower

Tutor Perini Corporation

today announced an interim court ruling on the Harmon Tower project at MGM CityCenter in Las Vegas. Tutor Perini Building Corp., a wholly owned subsidiary of Tutor Perini Corporation, was the lead contractor for the Harmon Tower project. Judge Gonzalez, of the Nevada state court, determined that MGM can demolish the Harmon Tower as a “business decision,” but that doing so would not in any way be the result of any actions by Tutor Perini Building Corp. during the construction of the project and that the Court's decision is not “a determination as to whether any design defects exists, any noncompliance with code exists, any nonconformance with plans exists or any construction defects exist.” Judge Gonzalez ordered that the following instruction be given to the jury at trial: "CityCenter has made a business decision to demolish the Harmon. The mere fact that the Harmon has been demolished is not evidence of any nonconformance with code or plans. It is not evidence of any constructional defect or any safety issues at the Harmon. You are to make all decisions in this case based upon the evidence presented here in court." Tutor Perini Building Corp. noted that evidence at the hearing demonstrated that the Harmon Tower is safe and that the Court did not make any determination that it cannot be repaired. Additionally, after two years of litigation, MGM has now conceded that the Harmon Tower could be repaired if MGM chose to do so. Tutor Perini remains confident that it will prevail when the issues of safety, repairability and responsibility for the issues facing the Harmon Tower are considered. John A. Martin & Associates, a nationally renowned structural engineering firm that has the most experience in designing high rise towers on the Las Vegas Strip, testified at the hearing, finding that the Harmon Tower suffers from substantial design defects that are MGM's responsibility. The evidence at the hearing established that the Harmon Tower can be fully repaired for approximately $21 million, more than $15 million of which is due to design defects that are MGM's responsibility. For over two years MGM has refused to allow these repairs, which would have rendered the building useable for its intended purpose.