Omar Shareef, president of the African American Contractors Association, told Crain's Chicago Business that seven separate subcontractors have contacted him in recent months for help pursuing payments. 

Adamson Plumbing, a minority-owned business. is owed more than $2 million, says its president, Michael Owen.

"There are a whole slew of change orders that [the JV contractor] asked us to price and proceed on," says Owen, president of the Addison, Ill.-based union employer. "A lot of subs on the project had already received that guidance and proceeded. We probably have close to $450,000 in price and proceed and a couple of them we are now at a complete loss for." 

In a statement, Lakeside Alliance said such problems are common on large projects and it remains committed to making trade contractors whole.

"The Obama Presidential Center involved multiple structures, thousands of design documents, and hundreds of trade partners and community businesses. As with many major construction projects, contractual closeout—including the review and resolution of outstanding invoices, change orders, and other project matters—continues long after the doors open," the statement reads.

It also said Lakeside Alliance continues to work to support the businesses that helped deliver the project. 

"These companies have broadened their skills, expanded their relationships, and enhanced their ability to compete for future work on major projects across the country. We remain committed to working through outstanding matters to successfully close out the project," the statement read.

Adamson'a Owen said many of the issues on the project stemmed from very small discrepancies that were simply lost in the transition from design to construction.

Early in construction, for example, the tile walls in bathrooms with flushometers installed had incorrect dimensions. Owen says he called the supplier and quickly priced replacements and got the okay to price the new supplies and fix the problem, a roughly $20,000 change order. 

When it came time to get paid for the change orders that were documented in the project construction management system, several subcontractors say they were denied payment by the owner despite being given the okay to price and proceed by Lakeside Alliance. As issues continued to arise during construction and the Obama Foundation added scope, the initial total cost of the project ballooned from $300 million to $650 million, then to $850 million. Rework and added scope required tapping the project's contingency fund.

The Obama Presidential Center's endowment was estimated at $470 million in donations during the project's design phase, but only $1 million in cash is on hand now, according to public filings by the Obama Foundation.