A worker takes measurements near the front entrance of the HERE apartment complex on Thursday, Aug. 18, 2016.

As Lawrence’s multimillion dollar HERE apartment complex neared completion, one subcontractor says its workers arrived on site to find the work behind schedule and below acceptable standards.

On Nov. 14, the company, Missouri-based RealState Investments LLC, filed a civil lawsuit against HERE’s owners and others, claiming it was owed $169,115 for increased costs due to the site’s mismanagement.

The lawsuit, filed in Douglas County District Court, also lists Stevens Construction, of Madison, Wis., and Fifth Third Bank Inc., of Cincinnati, Ohio, as defendants.

Stevens Construction was contracted by HERE Lawrence to build apartments at 1101 Indiana St., while Fifth Third Bank holds the property’s mortgage, the lawsuit says.

The defendants have not yet filed a response to the lawsuit, though John Kitson, vice president of construction management of CA Student Living, the developer for HERE Lawrence, said in a written statement the parties “are working through final cost negotiations and expect to wrap this up soon.”

Representatives from RealState, Stevens Construction and Fifth Third Bank did not immediately return calls seeking comment for this story.

In October 2015, RealState was contracted by Stevens Construction to work on the apartments’ kitchens and common areas and to install cabinets, countertops and sinks, the lawsuit says. For this work, Stevens Construction offered to pay RealState $654,449.

Due to the nature of the work “RealState was one of the last subcontractors on the project,” the lawsuit says. By the time the company arrived “the project was behind schedule” and other subcontractors had completed work outside of their scope “due to mismanagement by Stevens Construction.”

Before RealState’s employees began working they inspected the property and found a “myriad” of problems in each unit, the lawsuit says.

Often, RealState employees would arrive to find they had no work for the day due to poor coordination from Stevens Construction, the lawsuit says. Other times, supplies and materials stored at the site overnight would be moved or missing the next day.

In late July 2016, RealState pulled out of the site, having spent a total of $701,888 working on the complex, the lawsuit says. The extra money was spent due to unexpected additions to their work order and “Stevens Construction’s failure to properly coordinate the work.”

So far, Stevens Construction has failed to pay a total of $169,115.41, which constitutes a breach of contract, the lawsuit says.

After numerous delays, the HERE apartment complex opened its doors to some tenants on Aug. 19. Others, however, were not allowed to move in until later because their apartments were not yet finished.

The $75 million HERE complex is made up of 624 bedrooms and 13,500 feet of commercial space; however, only about 90 percent of the rooms may be filled due to a lack of parking space.

In an effort to solve the complex’s parking problems, two houses in the Oread Neighborhood are slated to be torn down and replaced by a parking lot. Most of that land is owned by the University of Kansas’s Endowment Association and will be leased to HERE for the parking spaces. As a part of the arrangement, though, tenants will be required to move their vehicles approximately 10 times a year for events like KU’s home football games.