Ayanna Pressley

Gov. Maura Healey and Convention Center head John Barros are defending a $2 billion state contract to construct and manage a courthouse in Springfield to a company co-owned by Barros and Rep. Ayanna Pressley’s husband, Conan Harris.

It comes after Barros, the interim executive director of the Massachusetts Convention Center Authority (MCCA), announced that he divested his interest from the Liberty Junction project — the partnership awarded the bid that includes Barros and Harris’ firm CoJo Partners. A new memo in a lawsuit alleges Barros did not disclose his financial interest in the company until a day after the state Division of Capital Asset Management and Maintenance (DCAMM) awarded the bid.

“The next day (and one day prior to DCAMM’s public announcement of Liberty Junction’s bid award), Mr. Barros submitted to the Massachusetts State Ethics Commission a disclosure … A disclosure filed only after the conflict of interest had run its course in the procurement cannot retroactively cure the tainted Process,” a supplemental memorandum filed in Hampden County Superior Court by two of the 10 losing bidders says.

Under Massachusetts law, a sitting state official cannot hold a financial stake in a company bidding for a state contract without disclosing it to the Ethics Commission.

The two plaintiffs, New England used car magnate Jeb Balise and real estate developer Dinesh Patel, filed the suit to stop the deal on July 9 under their respective business entities USPB JV, LLC and Tower Square, LLC.

Balise and Patel’s memorandum goes on to state that Barros submitted his annual Statement of Financial Interest to the Massachusetts Ethics Commission two months after he was appointed as the interim head of the Massachusetts Convention Center Authority (MCCA) and did not disclose his financial interest in CoJo Partners and Liberty Junction.

“No, that’s not true, but I can’t talk about it because it’s a matter that’s in court,” Barros said when asked by the Herald about the allegations.

Barros declined to answer several other reporter questions regarding the deal, including whether Harris should follow his lead and also divest from the partnership.

Healey maintained her support for the contract and the procurement process when speaking with reporters following another event in Springfield, saying it “saves the taxpayers $300 million.”

“Of course they (the public) can trust the process. Look, guys, I remember as attorney general, it was often the case that there would be litigation following any bid award. I think on this one, I knew coming in as governor that Springfield deserved a modern and safe courthouse, and that’s why I said that DCAMM should go through that process with the trial court,” said Healey.

“I know that the trial Court made a recommendation, made a decision, and the project that they picked, it saves taxpayers $300 million, which I think is good. And most importantly, it’s about getting a courthouse built for the safety of the workforce there and also the public that’s going to use it,” she said.

The governor also defended the procurement process and Harris not having divested his stake in Liberty Junction and CoJo Partners, telling the Herald “I don’t see why,” Harris should step away from the deal.

“You talk to the trial court about it, they’re the ones that made the decision,” Healey said.

The DCAMM announced the contract was awarded to Liberty Junction in a July 2 press release — the last business day before the Independence Day weekend — something two losing bidders suing to stop the contract liken to a “Thursday news dump,” adding that it “fostered an unmistakable appearance of impropriety.”

DCAMM also maintains it awarded the contract based on the recommendation of the Massachusetts Trial Court in an effort to finish the project “as quickly as possible.”

As Conan Harris remains with CoJo Partners and on the contract, Ayanna Pressley’s net worth has exploded from an estimated $12,500 during her time as Boston City Councilor in 2018 to a whopping $8 million in 2024, according to Open Secrets. She receives a congressional salary of $174,000.

Pressley’s financial disclosure report listed her Martha’s Vineyard home, which has an estimated value between $1 million and $5 million, which she rents out for up to $50,000 a year. Pressley also owns three rental residential properties in Boston that she reports making between $80,000 and $200,000 a year from.

The Herald has requested comment from Pressley and Harris.

Boston-based Suffolk Construction, and Virginia-based real estate firm FD Stonewater are the other two companies in the Liberty Junction partnership.