The City has authorized The Morganti Group Inc. to commence work today on the renovation of the former federal courthouse.
The building at 311 W. Monroe St. will house the State Attorney's Office and is adjacent to the Duval County Courthouse at 501 W. Adams St.
A letter dated July 31 from Tom Goldsbury, City Planning and Development engineer manager, to Stephen Sines, Morganti senior project manager, indicated the company is to commence work within 10 calendar days of the date of the notice to proceed, listed as today.
"The project shall be substantially complete no later than 480 calendar days from the date of the notice to proceed," the letter states.
The contract substantial completion date is Nov. 28, 2014, and the contract expiration date is March 28, 2015.
Goldsbury, in an email Friday, said the permit has not yet been issued but should be sometime this week.
He said the construction fence will start to be installed today and that Morganti already has taken over trailers from Turner Construction Co., which built the new courthouse.
Danbury, Conn.-based Morganti was awarded the contract after being the low bidder for the project at just under $31 million. The company has a Southeast regional office in West Palm Beach.
As reported in June, the City awarded a $26 million contract to Morganti to complete the renovation. The difference in the bid and the contract came after the company and City engineers modified plans and arrived at a price of just under $26 million.
City Council passed legislation to appropriate just more than $26 million to encumber funds and require the build-out for the state attorney's office.
The renovation is part of the Better Jacksonville Plan's Unified Courthouse Project that had a $350 million budget.
Elkins Constructors Inc. was originally contracted to perform the work for just under $28 million, but the City terminated the agreement in April 2012.
The contract was then rebid.
(904) 356-2466