Sarasota-based Tandem Construction, which lost the bid earlier this year, will take over immediately.

NORTH PORT — The Sarasota-based construction firm that complained after an out-of-town contractor was awarded the Atlanta Braves spring training stadium project will get the job after all.

In an unexpected twist, local firm Tandem Construction is taking over the project from Atlanta-based Brasfield & Gorrie, one of the primary firms to complete the Braves' new regular season home at SunTrust Park in Cobb County, Ga.

The swap, formally approved Thursday, comes at the last minute, days before a formal groundbreaking event Monday at the stadium site in the West Villages just off U.S. 41 and River Road in North Port.

Despite the late shift, construction work is not expected to be delayed under the already extremely tight 14-month schedule for finishing the new stadium in time for pitchers and catchers reporting for spring training in February 2019, Tandem and West Villages leaders said.

"We’re happy to be here and we’re going to work really hard to make this possible for all of us," Tandem Senior Vice President Brian Leaver said. "It’s a community project we’re really interested in.

"We’re working as hard as we can to get up to speed and do everything we can to make it come true."

The awarding of the contract to Tandem won unanimous approval Thursday morning from the board of the West Villages Improvement District, the special taxing authority established for the 11,000-acre mixed-use development area to oversee major infrastructure there. The district's board is overseeing the ambitious construction work.

It follows discussions with Brasfield & Gorrie and its second partner over the last month about concerns the firm would not be able to meet the district's and team's expectations for managing the project, said West Villages Board Chairman Marty Black, who has led negotiations with the team.

The concerns revolved largely around the project's cost — which ballooned from $75 million to $100 million during design over the summer — and the firm's need to transplant many of its representatives from Atlanta and Orlando to the area for the duration of construction, Black said.

Attempts to reach Brasfield & Gorrie executives were unsuccessful Thursday and a letter from President Rob Taylor to the West Villages and team last week simply cited "reasons associated with the evolution of the project’s requirements."

"Brasfield, I think, has done something to be applauded," Black said. "They feel it’s better for the district, team and overall project if they step aside at this point and allow a team led by a local contractor ... . This is preferable from the perspective of having a local team with local access and local knowledge. Sets of construction managers from both groups have acted very professionally and ethically during this process."

After Brasfield & Gorrie won the contract in the spring, Tandem leaders argued the district should reconsider their application as a lead local contractor, but the district declined. The company's chief contention was that Tandem and Orlando-based management firm Barton Malow have worked on dozens of major and minor league stadiums — including the IMG Academy, Premier Sports Complex in Lakewood Ranch and the Baltimore Orioles’ training complex at Twin Lakes Park — whereas the Braves’ SunTrust Park is the only baseball project on Brasfield & Gorrie’s resume.

"I believe with where we stand today, Brasfield & Gorrie has been very forthright and honest and has expressed their belief they will not be able to meet the expectations of the district or the Braves in terms of the delivery of the stadium as designed," West Villages board member Dean Koon said. "I’m completely supportive of the move to the new firm and I believe that is our best path at this point, and I have complete confidence they’ll be able to perform."

Brasfield & Gorrie has completed myriad "pre-construction" services on the project, including reviewing the formal architectural plans and providing input on the construction plan, West Villages leaders said. By backing out now, the two firms can complete a clean handoff of the project ahead of the actual construction itself, Black and Taylor indicated.

The change is the latest surprise in a project that has been full of them over the past 2 1/2 years and is unlikely to be the last with such an extraordinarily tight construction schedule.

There remains a chance the Braves could be playing in a new stadium in North Port in 2019 but might not have all of the planned practice facilities ready in time, officials acknowledged publicly for the first time Thursday.

That might mean the Braves spend some of their spring training practice time with the Baltimore Orioles at Ed Smith Stadium in Sarasota, for example, Black offered. Such contingency plans are not official or even under consideration at the moment, but options exist should any delay affect the timeline, Black said.

"We’ve had a hurricane that’s disrupted even the start of this project and obviously we don’t know what might happen," Black said. "It’s anticipated everyone is working toward that date ... I believe from the conversations we've had from all the representatives, including the Braves, everyone is comfortable there will be play in 2019. Whether it's the first game, second or at some point in the middle of the season remains to be seen."