By Wednesday’s deadline, 14 companies said they wanted to bid on the City job to renovate the old federal courthouse Downtown for use by the State Attorney’s Office.
Submitting “Statements of Bidder Qualifications” were Ajax Building Corp., Arellano Construction Co., Auld & White Constructors LLC, Barton Malow Co., Brasfield & Gorrie LLC, Danis Construction Co., Elkins Constructors Inc., Manhattan Construction Inc., Morganti Group Inc., Perry-McCall Construction Inc., Peter R. Brown Construction Inc., Sauer Inc., Turner Construction Co. and Walbridge.
Turner Construction built the new Duval County Courthouse, which opened June 18 next to the old federal courthouse. Elkins already had performed work on the old federal courthouse, at 311 W. Monroe St., before the City terminated the agreement in April.
The 14 companies responded to the 2 p.m. deadline to submit “Statements of Bidder Qualifications” for the job. The statements were opened at the Central Operations Department Procurement Division at the Ed Ball Building.
The City sought firms interested in providing the construction services. It will determine which contractors have met all the criteria and will then solicit competitive sealed bids for the construction services of the project. The award “will be made to the lowest, responsive, responsible bidder,” according to the request for qualifications.
According to the request, the construction cost is anticipated to be about $25 million. Pending legislation at City Hall amends a prior ordinance to appropriate $30 million — $28 million for construction and a $2 million contingency reserve — within the Better Jacksonville Plan’s Unified Courthouse Project budget to the “Courthouse – Old Federal Renovation” project for the renovation of the old federal courthouse into the State Attorney’s office.
The request said the project scope “will be a complete renovation with work including but not limited to new windows, walls, ceilings, flooring, fire sprinkler system, plumbing, fire alarm, electrical HVAC and all other systems” to provide occupancy for the State Attorney’s Office.
The construction schedule is anticipated to be about 14 months from the notice to proceed to completion. The City also reserves the right “to proceed no further” with the RFQ process or to re-advertise it in another public solicitation.
Because the statements were pre-qualifying bids, no bid amounts were received. The City Intra-Government Services Department said that according to Florida Statute, review of the bid proposals is not permissible until 30 days from the bid-open date or an intended action has been determined by the City.
According to Daily Record archives, City Director of Public Works Jim Robinson told a City Council Courthouse Oversight Special Committee in June that Elkins Constructors already performed about $2 million of work on the project for the removal of lead paint from the building and for remediation of mold and mildew.
He said the agreement for the project between the City and Elkins was terminated in April by the City.
According to the RFQ document, bidders must meet criteria, including having “already successfully completed at least two prior building renovation projects with a contract amount of at least $20 million.”
Bidders also “must have never abandoned a project before completion.”
Robinson has said the protected connector walkway requested by the State Attorney’s Office to provide a protective corridor from the renovated offices to the courthouse will remain an element of the bid package.
After the qualified bidders are established, he said the schedule is to advertise for bids in mid-August. “From that point we will receive bids, evaluate them, contract with the successful contractor and provide a notice to proceed,” he said.
Robinson said he anticipates construction to start in late October or early November. A 14-month project would indicate a possible completion in December 2013 or January 2104.
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