> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.newbostonpost.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Rep. Ayanna Pressley’s Husband’s Nearly $2 Billion Springfield Courthouse Deal Faces Lawsuit - URL: https://www.newbostonpost.com/springfield-courthouse-lawsuit-pressley-husband/ - Published: 2026-07-15T11:30:34.000Z - Updated: 2026-07-15T11:30:33.000Z - Description: Two losing bidders seek to block a 40-year Springfield courthouse lease with a team that includes U.S. Rep. Ayanna Pressley’s husband. - Author: Tom Joyce - Tags: News, Politics, Massachusetts, #lead, #morning-bell, morning-bell, #1 Two losing bidders have sued Massachusetts to block a 40-year lease for a new Springfield courthouse with a development team that counts U.S. Rep. Ayanna Pressley’s husband among its principals. USPB JV LLC, led by James E. “Jeb” Balise, and Springfield Tower Square LLC, led by Dinesh Patel, filed the ⁠[complaint](https://masslawyersweekly.com/files/2026/07/6a51101dde020.pdf.pdf?ref=newbostonpost.com) July 9 in Hampden County Superior Court. The case names the Massachusetts Division of Capital Asset Management and Maintenance and FDS MA Liberty Junction LLC, the proposed landlord, as defendants. The challengers accuse state officials of overlooking a potential conflict involving John Barros, another principal on the provisionally selected team. They also allege that Liberty Junction failed to meet site-control requirements and submitted conflicting terms concerning property taxes. The plaintiffs want a judge to set aside the award and stop the state from signing the lease. They describe the proposed commitment as “nearly $2 billion.” The winning proposal’s public rent table shows a somewhat lower fixed figure but leaves taxpayers responsible for additional expenses. [A review of all 40 entries](https://www.mass.gov/info-details/springfield-regional-justice-center-project?ref=newbostonpost.com) in the ⁠Liberty Junction proposal posted on the state’s project page totals $1,643,780,609.77 in base rent. A $5 million first-year concession lowers the listed annual rent total to $1,638,780,609.77. Base rent starts at about $31.98 million and rises to about $49.21 million in year 40. That total does not cover every state expense. The bid makes the state responsible for janitorial services and all capital repairs. It also requires the state to pay “additional rent” when actual operating costs and real estate taxes exceed estimates included in the base rent. The initial lease would run for 40 years. The state could exercise two 10-year options, extending occupancy to 60 years. The public proposal identifies Claiborne Williams, Richard Mann, Barros and Conan Harris as principals of FDS MA Liberty Junction. Harris, Pressley’s husband, is also a principal of CoJo Partners, which joined Virginia-based FD Stonewater on the Liberty Junction team. Suffolk Construction would serve as the general contractor. The complaint does not name Harris, Pressley, Barros, Williams or Mann as individual defendants. It also does not accuse Pressley of taking part in the procurement. Its central conflict allegation concerns Barros. The Massachusetts Convention Center Authority board ⁠[appointed](https://www.massconvention.com/about-us/press-release/massachusetts-convention-center-authority-board-appoints-john-barros-interi?ref=newbostonpost.com) Barros as interim executive director in January while DCAMM continued to evaluate the courthouse proposals. Liberty Junction submitted its bid in October 2025, before Barros took the public job. DCAMM did not announce its decision until July 2. The Convention Center Authority operates the MassMutual Center in Springfield, a short distance from the proposed courthouse. State Administration and Finance Secretary Matthew Gorzkowicz sits on the authority’s board, while his executive office oversees DCAMM. The plaintiffs argue that Barros’s public position created a conflict under state law and made Liberty Junction ineligible for the award. Barros filed an ethics disclosure on July 1, one day before DCAMM announced the selection. [According to ⁠The Boston Globe](https://www.bostonglobe.com/2026/07/09/business/springfield-courthouse-lawsuit-mcca-director/?ref=newbostonpost.com), Barros described himself as a passive investor with no decision-making authority over the project. He acknowledged that he would receive indirect financial compensation from the lease and said the Convention Center Authority had no role in the courthouse project. The challengers also question whether the proposed landlord controlled the entire Liberty Street site. They allege that purchase and lease rights attached to the bid belong to related companies rather than FDS MA Liberty Junction itself. They also say an option covering part of the site expired May 9 without an express extension. The complaint points to separate documents that assign property-tax responsibility differently. DCAMM has defended the procurement process. In its ⁠July 2 [announcement](https://www.mass.gov/news/development-team-selected-for-new-roderick-l-ireland-regional-justice-center-in-springfield?ref=newbostonpost.com), the agency said a committee of Trial Court and DCAMM employees evaluated 10 proposals, visited the sites and considered cost, location, delivery time and overall value. The state called Liberty Junction the lowest-cost proposal – and one of the fastest. DCAMM says it would cost about $7.4 million less annually than the next-closest finalist and roughly $600,000 less each month than the most comparable alternative. The plaintiffs have retained Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP, commonly known as WilmerHale. The firm ⁠[represented Apple](https://www.wilmerhale.com/en/solutions/intellectual-property-litigation/protecting-intellectual-property-in-international-markets?ref=newbostonpost.com) during its seven-year global patent fight with Samsung, which included a $539 million jury award before the companies settled. Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno also criticized the selection. Sarno favored a riverfront proposal associated with Peter Pan Bus Lines chairman Peter Picknelly. In his [statement](https://www.springfield-ma.gov/cos/news-story?cHash=452ddbbdb189dd53ac5316d46a9aad60&tx%5Fnews%5Fpi1%5Baction%5D=detail&tx%5Fnews%5Fpi1%5Bcontroller%5D=News&tx%5Fnews%5Fpi1%5Bnews%5D=17860&ref=newbostonpost.com), Sarno said “Boston power brokers” had told Springfield what to do and that the state had shunned local developers. The lawsuit also drew criticism from the Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance, which urged the Healey administration to pause the project while the allegations receive further review. “Maybe Liberty Junction submitted the best proposal and won fair and square," MassFiscal Executive Director Paul Diego Craney said. "If so, a transparent review will demonstrate that. But Massachusetts taxpayers should not be told to simply trust the process when nearly $2 billion is on the line and the winning team is this politically connected.” The process drew questions well before DCAMM selected Liberty Junction. Massachusetts Inspector General Jeffrey Shapiro voted against the leasing plan in January 2025\. He ⁠[warned](https://www.nepm.org/regional-news/2025-01-22/springfield-courthouse-project-moves-forward-but-not-without-some-objection?ref=newbostonpost.com) at the time that officials’ public support for a different, riverfront site could discourage bidders and make a fair competition more difficult. The new courthouse would replace and consolidate the current Roderick L. Ireland Courthouse and a neighboring court building. Employees have complained for years about mold, leaks, poor ventilation and other problems in the existing courthouse. The state expects to open the new six-story courthouse in 2030\. DCAMM says negotiating and executing the lease will take several months.