Forest Development sues Kast over its $242M Nautilus 220 towers
A developer and its general contractor are now fighting in court over a nine-figure condo, and the fault line is a lift station and a lien.
Forest Development has sued its general contractor, Kast Construction, in Palm Beach County Circuit Court over Nautilus 220, the two 24-story condo towers it is building at 220 Lake Shore Drive in Lake Park, alleging defective work, improper billing and a fraudulent construction lien topping $11 million. The complaint, filed July 13, follows Kast’s roughly $11.4 million lien on the project in May.
Why it matters
For anyone who builds, this is the nightmare scenario made concrete: developer and general contractor turning on each other with a nine-figure tower still finishing. The parties signed a construction agreement with a guaranteed maximum price of about $242.1 million, the kind of GMP deal meant to cap the owner’s exposure. Forest now says Kast failed to reach substantial completion on time and is claiming money it is not owed, while Kast’s lien says the opposite. When a GMP relationship ends in a fraudulent-lien count under Florida Statute 713.31, it is a warning about how thin the trust can get on a large, delayed job.
The dispute also lands on a marquee South Florida condo. Nautilus 220 is a two-tower luxury project on the Lake Park waterfront, and litigation between owner and builder can cloud closings, financing and the schedule buyers were promised. How this resolves will matter to every subcontractor and lender attached to the deal.
The numbers
The construction agreement carried a guaranteed maximum price of roughly $242.1 million for the two 24-story towers at 220 Lake Shore Drive. Kast recorded a lien of about $11.4 million in May. Forest’s complaint alleges an approximately seven-month delay tied to damage involving the project’s lift station and brings four counts, including breach of contract, breach of express warranty, contractual indemnification and fraudulent lien.
What’s next
Watch whether the two sides move toward a negotiated payoff of the lien or dig in for discovery, and whether the fight slows the towers’ final delivery and closings.