Title/Name/Summary
Downtown Main Street - Streets, Parking Lot and Infrastructure Delivery Approach
History
As part of both the University of Chicago Medical Center (UCMC) project and the forthcoming public parking deck, the Village is responsible for the design and construction of certain improvements within the Downtown Main Street area.
Specifically, the Village is responsible for the following items:
(1) Jefferson Avenue from 143rd Street to 142nd Street;
(2) “B” Street between Ravinia Avenue and future Jefferson Avenue;
(3) The 207-space surface parking lot in front of the UCMC’s building; and
(4) Associated public infrastructure such as public utilities, streetscape, mass grading and landscaping.
SpaceCo, Inc. is currently finalizing construction drawings and developing a Request for Proposals (RFP) for this collection of improvements as part of an existing Professional Engineering Services Contract with the Village. It is anticipated that these drawings and the RFP - components of which are dependent upon final design decisions associated with the parking deck - will be completed in early March of 2016.
Funds for the physical work are included in the FY2016 Main Street Triangle TIF Fund budget, although some of the improvements may be carried over into FY2017 based upon (1) the results of the bid submissions and (2) direction by the Board of Trustees related to phasing expectations, to be discussed in greater detail at a future date.
The improvements listed above must be completed in whole or in part by October 1, 2016 in order to satisfy contractual obligations with the UCMC and provide service and access to the Village’s parking deck. Due to the tight timeline associated with delivering these improvements, combined with logistical challenges on site, staff recommends the use of a Limited Invitation Competitive RFP process.
This process is a design-bid-build method of contracting, whereby the Village identifies and directly engages a fixed number of qualified contractors. In this context, staff recommends inviting Leopardo Construction (the general contractor for the UCMC project) and Walsh Construction Company (the design-build contractor for the Village’s parking deck) to respond to the Village’s forthcoming RFP. This approach is a competitive process since the Village will evaluate the proposals using the typical metrics of price, qualifications, responsiveness to the specifications, and past experience.
Some of the advantages of this approach include:
(1) Leopardo and Walsh are mobilized onsite with staffing and equipment infrastructure in place;
(2) Both contractors already possess the base knowledge and understanding of how this scope of work relates to their respective projects;
(3) There will be better infield coordination and improved sequencing between this scope of work and the ongoing activities of the UCMC and parking deck projects;
(4) This scenario will allow for possible project cost savings through leveraging in place operational assets; and
(5) The use of an existing onsite contractor will allow the Village to meet the project schedule.
Recommended Action/Motion
I move to recommend to the Village Board to approve and direct staff to proceed with the proposed Limited Invitation Competitive Request for Proposals approach, as outlined, for the construction of public streets, a parking lot, and various infrastructure projects within the Downtown Main Street area.