Results Start to Emerge for Library Project’s Rebidding Effort
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Subcontractor bids for the Jones Library Demolition/Expansion project came in on October 17. These are the bids for the various trades that are involved in construction projects (such as plumbing, electrical, masonry, etc). After some value engineering changes to the project, the sum of the lowest bids in each category is lower now ($12.5 million) than in April ($14.7 million). The spread amongst the bids is much higher, however, with 10 of the 14 trades varying by ~50% or more and the sum of the high bids exceeding $18 million (see below for details). For comparison’s sake, the general contractor bids for the Fort River school project were within ~3% of each other, which, according to reports from that project’s team, was reassuring.
Concerns over Bids to Date
Some concern about the bidding so far is evident in the Requests for Information (RFIs) submitted by potential bidders and Addenda provided by the project team. As of this writing, there have been 68 RFIs; there were around 100 the first time and project leaders had stated that these would be minimal in this second round. One subcontractor submitted the following request to the design team days before the bids were due:
“Due to the complex nature of this bid, we respectfully request that the Filed Sub Bid date be extended.”
This request was denied. The advertisement for the project was published just three weeks before the subcontractor bids were due, with general contractor (GC) bids due just two weeks later. Another potential bidder wrote:
“In view of the project schedule we have concerns with how the permitting requirements and unknown time period for review and approval may negatively impact the project.”
and another:
“We would like to formally request an alteration be made to the MBE/WBE/VBE/SDVOBE [minority, women, veteran, and service disabled veteran owned businesses] participation goals for this project pursuant to the low contribution towards these goals from the FSB [filed sub bids] trades. (Only 5.67% of WBE and 0% of MBE/VBE/SDVOBE of the estimated project cost was achieved). Kindly advise if the Town of Amherst would allow these subcategories be combined into a single participation goal and waive the individual participation goals.”
Finally, general contractor bidders were instructed to carry an allowance of $3.3 million for electrical work rather than the value of the low bid ($2.8 million).
Smaller Potential Pool of GC Bidders
There are only four prequalified GCs for the project, two fewer than the first time. One of them (CTA Construction) is also the low bidder for the Fort River School Project, which has recently been referred to the Massachusetts Attorney General’s office to try to resolve complaints that have been raised about that process. Another prequalified GC (Fontaine Bros.) is the same one that made the lone bid in April at nearly $7 million over the budgeted amount.
Whatever bids are received on October 31 from the four pre-authorized companies, these will represent only the initially known construction costs. Soft costs, that typically add an additional 25% to these figures, will also be incurred. In addition, no contracts can be executed until a mandated Section 106 review has been completed. If the state and federal agencies involved, which have already noted adverse effects of the plans in violation of several preservation standards, decide that designs need to be revised, further costs will be incurred as well as impacts to bids and/or costly change orders during construction. As the project’s owner, the town will ultimately be responsible for any financial impacts.
Fundraising Is Stagnant
According to reports from the Capital Campaign to the Library Trustees, there have been no new funds raised for the project over the past two months. These reports also do not mention the $900,000 that still has not been transferred to the Town from the Library since January 2024. The four-time rejection of applications for $2 million in historic tax credits has also not been noted, nor that another $2.1 million in federal grants are at risk pending a mandated review of the historical and environmental impacts of the proposed work. Even if the more than $2 million of pledged, but not yet received, funding comes in and the project cost does not exceed current permitted borrowing, more than $7 million of fundraising remains. If a contract is signed to proceed with the project and other funding is not secured, the town will be responsible for covering the full cost.
Uncertainties Abound
It remains to be seen how the small field of potential GC bidders will respond to the highly variable subcontractor bids, the lack of resolution on final design pending the Section 106 review, and a complex design on a challenging site. Also unclear is whether and how the Town Council will engage with decisions about a project that is millions of dollars short on funding with unknown actual costs and with other town capital priorities (schools, fire station, DPW, Senior and Youth centers, etc) still unaddressed.
This is when I’d love our town leaders to finally unify around the idea of “when the horse is dead, get off”
This is not a “dead horse,” Ira; it’s a “Trojan horse”!
The oversized, ahistorical redesign of what was once the Jones Library — especially the modern facade on its northern and western flanks — will finally allow development of the land to its north into a “high-rise downtown” for the City of Amherst upon the several blocks bounded by North Prospect on the west, North Pleasant on the east, and UMass on the north.
The library project team has issued several addenda since this article was written. On October 24, they indicated that all Electrical Sub-bids were rejected because of “changes in scope” and will be rebid with a due date of November 6. The GC bids are still due one week before that, on October 31 they were instructed to carry an allowance of $3.3M for electrical. Another addendum was issued on October 29 that increased that amount to $4,000,000.
The net effect of these changes is that the sum of the low sub bids has risen to ~$13.7M.