Windows and patio doors that don’t keep rain out and showers that don’t keep water in are two of the numerous allegations levied against San Antonio-based builder Bartlett Cocke in a multimillion-dollar lawsuit over its work on a $40 million Windsor Park neighborhood luxury apartment complex in Austin.
The owners of Highgrove Apartments off Cameron Road are suing the builder over alleged shoddy workmanship. The case was moved to Texas Business Court last week.
It’s the second such suit against the company to reach the court this year. Greystar, the nation’s largest multifamily apartment owner, earlier sued the builder and several subcontractors over a plumbing leak that led to millions in damages in one of the buildings at Urban East along Riverside Drive.
The owners of Highgrove, a company called 5900 Cameron Property Owner LLC, allege numerous construction failures have damaged the property.
“The exterior defects and interior leaks and water damage are an eyesore, are potentially hazardous to Highgrove’s tenants, and diminish the value of Highgrove to its tenants,” the suit says.
Bartlett Cocke has denied the allegations, saying the defects and damage came from “new and intervening causes” and pointing the finger at some of its subcontractors, who aren’t named in the suit.
Highgrove was substantially completed in June 2023, according to court documents, and tenants began complaining about various issues the next year, most prominently their showers.
Owners allege that poorly installed shower pans — the waterproof floors that direct water to the drain — failed, causing water damage in more than 60 units, though the owner says the issue may affect all 300 units.
As water was causing damage inside their homes, weather without was penetrating the building in multiple ways, the suit says.
Bartlett Cocke also failed to install patio doors and windows correctly, leading to swelling, discoloration and water penetration. The windows and doors are aging at a quicker rate.
Moisture has “marred” the exterior of the building as well, the suit says, cracking stucco along the facade. Soffit, siding and brick facades were all improperly installed, it alleges.
The contracts the alleged failures represent are high-dollar: $2.5 million in plumbing subcontracts, $5.7 million in siding and another $1 million for other associated contracts.
The apartment owner is suing for breach of contract, negligence and breach of expressed warranty.
Alleged damages must be in excess of $5 million to be heard in Texas Business Court, but plaintiffs state the full amount they are owed will be determined at trial.