California Court of Appeal Affirms That Certain Types of Public Contributions Do Not Make Development a "Public Work" Under Former Version of Statute
Greystone Homes, Inc. v. Cake37 Cal. Rptr. 3d 183 (2005)
By Matthew W. Holder
The California Court of Appeal recently affirmed a 2004 Supreme Court decision that impacts when prevailing wages need to be paid on projects where the contract was signed before January 1, 2001. At issue in Greystone Homes, Inc. v. Cake, 37 Cal. Rptr. 3d 183 (2005), was whether a 134-unit housing development project constituted a "public work," and thus required the payment of prevailing wages. The awarding body for the project was the Pleasant Hill Redevelopment Agency (the "Agency"). The Agency had contributed three forms of public funds to the project:
- it had conveyed one parcel of property (out of 29 total parcels used) to the developer for use in the project
- it paid a $200,000 "Traffic Impact Mitigation Fee" to the developer, and
- it reimbursed the developer for upwards of $2.5 million in land acquisition costs. The total estimated cost of the project was $31.3 million.
