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Performing Arts Center negotiations suddenly halted
By
Marilyn Bowden
Negotiations
between Turner Construction and the Performing Arts Center Trust's
construction committee bogged down Tuesday when the committee canceled
a scheduled meeting, demanding that Turner sign a contract immediately
or allow the Miami-Dade County Commission to waive competitive bids
at its July 6 meeting, according to an industry source.
"This
would put the bidding process back to zero," a Turner spokesman
said. "It would allow other firms to come back to the negotiating
table.
"It
doesn't take us out of the bidding process, but it puts us at some
disadvantage."
Performing
Arts Center Project Director Gail Thompson would not comment on the
canceled meeting or the state of negotiations with Turner.
Stanley
Arkin, chair of the construction committee and one of the three negotiators,
said Turner had been asked to clarify its bid and come back with a
final number.
"We
saw no reason to meet with them until that was done," he said.
"We're hoping it will be successful."
Turner
became sole bidder for management of the Omni-area development this
month when its competitor, a consortium of three construction firms
called Performing Arts Center Builders, was disqualified for failing
to meet a county deadline to list subcontractors.
The
county's ceiling for construction on the project is $168 million.
Turner's initial bid was $253 million.
That
had been revised to $210 million, the Turner representative said,
for "bricks and mortar construction," which would not include
interiors, seats or finishings, "just the hard-core buildings.
"That's
not enough for what they want, but it would get us to the bargaining
table. The reality is the county doesn't have the money."
Mr.
Arkin says he anticipates a resolution to negotiations within the
week.
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