Thomas Construction amends lawsuit against Charles Street AME church

By Beth Healy, Globe Staff

A Dorchester construction firm has filed an amended lawsuit in Suffolk Superior Court against the Charles Street African Methodist Episcopal Church and its lender, OneUnited Bank, over $629,000 in work it says it did on the churchs community center but has gone unpaid.

Thomas Construction Co. alleges that it completed 91 percent of the work at the churchs Roxbury Renaissance Center, but that it has not been fully paid due to a dispute between the church and the bank. Thomas said it has been paid $2.6 million, but that the rest has gone unpaid since October 2009. The loan had come due, and although the church received extensions, it could not get the bank to extend or refinance the loan.

That loan dispute has continued, and now the bank is trying to foreclose on a separate loan and auction off the main church building, which is near the community center. There has been a massive community and political outcry to save the historic church.

The halt to the project has put a huge drain on our firm, said Paul Hogan, vice president of operations at Thomas Construction. He said the group was hopeful that a resolution might come about now that there was broader pressure on the bank to negotiate.

Ross Martin, a lawyer for the church, said, Were in regular contact with the contractor. We understand that they had to bring a lawsuit and were working with them to resolve the situation.

OneUnited, the nations largest black-owned bank, has filed a motion to dismiss the case. The Boston institution has loaned over $500 million to families and nonprofits, including churches, in low- to moderate-income communities in Boston, Los Angeles and Miami.

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Thomas Construction amends lawsuit against Charles Street AME church