Shootout in the Works for Las Vegas Mob Museum Project

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In an effort to obtain the Las Vegas Mob Museum project, Flagship Construction Co. sued Las Vegas in Clark County District Court, claiming it was twice the lowest responsible bidder for the job but that the work was eventually wrongly awarded to competitor APCO Construction for $11.5 million.

Attorneys Mark Ferrario, William Wray and Leslie Godfrey of the firm Greenberg Traurig LLP filed the lawsuit on Tuesday.

The lawsuit stated that during the initial bidding process, Flagship was the lowest bidder but the city changed the bidding rules in September and required a second round of bidding.

When APCO challenged Flagship’s qualifications for work on historical projects as well as the qualifications of two of the company’s subcontractors, the first set of bids was thrown away and a new round of bidding began.

A city spokeswoman said the city would have no comment on the pending litigation, according to Las Vegas Sun.

Contrary to APCO’s belief, Flagship continues to argue that it is qualified for work on historical structures, noting its work on the La Concha lobby renovation for the Neon Museum.

Although APCO submitted the low bid in the second round of bidding, Flagship said APCO's bid was not responsive because it failed to demonstrate adequate experience in historical renovations, included a subcontractor it knew could not perform the work and didn't disclose it's in litigation over breach of contract claims against it, according to Las Vegas Sun.

Flagship claimed that the City Council was wrong in giving the job to APCO because it failed to take into account that APCO is involved in a lawsuit against the city over construction of a city park along with problems APCO had in building the Aliante Library for North Las Vegas as well as a breach of contract lawsuit between APCO and a company called Gemstone.

Flagship is requesting an order requiring the city to re-evaluate APCO’s bid in conformity with state contracting laws and an order from the court awarding the job.

The Mob Museum, also known as the Las Vegas Museum of Organized Crime and Law Enforcement, is to be developed at the old U.S. Post Office and Courthouse Building on Stewart Avenue.