Contractors Eager To Get Marlins Parking Garage Work

Written by Jacquelyn Weiner on July 16, 2009

By Jacquelyn Weiner
About 100 contractor representatives flocked to Miami City Hall Monday for a conference laying out requirements for one of the largest, most lucrative requests for proposals the city has issued: parking at the future Marlins stadium.

A manager-at-risk contractor is to be chosen for the $94-million, 6,000-parking-space project by Aug. 3 based on a point system, said Gary Fabrikant, assistant director of contracts for the city’s capital improvements department.

Manager-at-risk agreements seek to ensure that projects are completed within budget.

Technical and financial proposals are to be submitted separately, as the technical will be considered first by a selection committee.

Knowing fees early could "taint the process," Mr. Fabrikant said.

Qualifications and the fee proposal carry the most weight in the point system. Small business and local workforce participation are also to be considered.

Qualifiers must have five years’ experience and have completed two projects that included a parking-structure component with a cost of at least $30 million, Mr. Fabrikant said.

Stadium construction will take precedence if timeline issues arise, he said.

Hunt-Moss, the contracting team building the stadium under a no-bid contract, says that gives the city good reason to hire it for the parking job.

Having a single contractor would be "more efficient" and would "provide a single point for the risk management of the overall project to avoid schedule delays," CEO Bob Moss said via e-mail.

Other attendees disagreed: "It’s certainly in the city’s best interest to spread the work around," said H. Jessie Brewer, vice president of Pirtle Construction, in an interview after the meeting.