Eleven To Interview For Florida Marlins Parking Garage Project One Firm Left Out

By Risa Polansky
Eleven of the 12 hopefuls vying to build parking for the Marlins stadium are to interview with the City of Miami today (10/1) and tomorrow.

In August, 12 firms bid for the up-to $94 million, four-garage, six-lot project at the old Orange Bowl site, where a ballpark for the Florida Marlins is rising.

Now, the city has made public its interview schedule.

Set for today: Miami-based Coastal Construction; Des Moines, IA-based WeitzCompany; Boston-based Suffolk Construction; Miami-based KM/Plaza; Dallas, TX-based Balfour Beatty Construction, teamed with Fort Lauderdale-based James A. Cummings Inc; Dallas, TX-based Austin Industries; New York-based Turner teamed with Miami-based MCM; and Scottsdale, AZ-based Hunt Construction teamed with Fort Lauderdale-based Moss Construction.

Hunt/Moss is handling construction of the 37,000-capacity, retractable-roof stadium itself.

The day-two interview lineup includes Birmingham, AL-based Brasfield & Gorrie; Parsippany, NJ-based Skanska and Miami-based JCON Group teamed with Hollywood-based John Moriarty and Associates of Florida.

Left off the list: Fort Lauderdale-based Facchina Construction of Florida.

It’s unclear why, and Gary Fabrikant, assistant director of capital improvements for the city, said Tuesday he couldn’t say.

Officials generally cannot comment on the review process because of a "cone of silence" law preventing bid-related communication at this stage of the game.

Facchina representatives did not respond to a call for comment.

During the interviews, each company is to have 30 minutes to present, followed by 15 minutes of "unstructured" questions, city documents say.

The committee evaluating the proposals includes five members and two alternates representing both the public and private sectors.

Members include Orlando Toledo, a senior director in the city manager’s office; David J. Mendez, assistant director of capital improvements for the city; Gary Donn, director of transportation support for the Florida Department of Transportation; McKenley Romeo of Florida Power & Light; and Johnny Martinez, director of Miami-Dade County’s Office of Capital Improvements.

Jose D. Mitrani, a professor in Florida International University’s Department of Construction Management, and Curtis Reynolds, vice provost for facilities at Miami Dade College, are alternates.

Fee proposals and qualifications are to carry the most weight in the selection committee’s decision, documents say.

In seeking a contractor, the city asked hopefuls to submit technical project proposals separately from fee proposals.

Committee members are to consider first the technical pitches, then the proposed fees, before announcing who they plan to contract with. Advertisement