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Bids due for $50M City Hall park rebuild (Corrected)

Center City District hires Gilbane to weigh Dilworth Plaza project bids due next week

    by Joseph N. DiStefano
    Published 
Paul Levy's Center City District has hired the Philadelphia office of Rhode Island-based Gilbane construction firm, from a list of seven bidders, to oversee the District's proposal for a taxpayer-funded $50 million reconstruction of Dilworth Plaza. as "owner's representative" and to assist with bids from would-be contractors on the project.

Levy objected to an earlier version of this item, which pointed out that the project is not subject to public bidding procedures used on city-funded projects. He noted I wrongly called the District a nonprofit (it's a municipal authority) and said it was hired to run the project (it actually signed a lease agreement).
He also says I "created the impression that something irregular is going on here." Instead, he writes:
"City Council, following a public advertised, public, hearing, voted to authorize the Department of Public Property to enter into a long-term lease with the Center City District, a municipal authority authorized under Commonwealth law and City law, to carry out the reconstruction and management of Dilworth Plaza.
"The City’s contribution to this $50 million project is $5 million. All other funding from federal, state, city, foundation and private sources has been secured by the CCD  - including our winning a highly competitive $15 million dollar federal transportation grant.  The CCD also raised or contributed all the funds required for the design and engineering of this project.
"One of the conditions of the State grant is evidence of site control by the redeveloping party; hence the long-term lease.  The method of a long-term lease from the City to the CCD was used successfully to build Café Cret on the 1600 block of the Parkway is currently being used for the reconstruction of  Sister Cities Park on Logan Square. Revenues from Café Cret are being used to pay for the maintenance and landscaping of this public park on the Parkway. These are prime examples of how in a time of scarcity public-private partnerships can bring new resources to table. 
"The federal funding, state funding, city funding and the laws governing the Center City District all require an open and public competitive bidding process for construction and construction management, including ads that were placed in your newspaper. Gilbane was selected through just such a process and the bids that will be opened next week are also the result of a rigorous public bidding process."
Bids are due Tuesday, Sept. 20 on the project, which will rebuild the stony, tree-shaded park linking the west side of City Hall to SEPTA's underground Suburban Station. A decision will be made after the district has had a chance to review the bid proposals, according to Levy's office. Target date: Nov. 1.
 Is this consistent with city bidding rules? Yes, as long as the District complies with "Section 5614 of the Municipal Authorities Act, which requires municipal authorities to award contracts to the lowest responsible bidder after a competitively bid process," says Philadelphia lawyer Wally Dimolong, who represents building contractors.   
Says Levy: "The layering of funding" from city, state and federal sources "adds complexity. Lowest bid is clearly a major factor, but it is not the only factor. The bidder has to demonstrate previous experience with projects like this and specifically projects in which the contractor has  worked around operating transit lines, as we will do in this project. Federal requirements include minority contractor provisions and city requirements include a percentage of minority labor participation."
    JN
    Joseph N. DiStefano