SUBJECT/RECOMMENDATION:
Title
Approve Supplemental One Work Order from Harvard Jolly Inc., of St. Petersburg, FL, for design services of South Osceola Parking Garage 22-0011-EN in the amount of $452,552, increasing the total from $1,540,598 to $1,993,150 and authorize the appropriate officials to execute same. (consent)
Body
SUMMARY:
To accommodate additional parking for the improved Coachman Park and support pending retail development of the Clearwater Bluffs, a public parking garage is needed.
November 17, 2022, City Council approved the initial work order with Harvard Jolly in the amount of $1,540,598 for design, construction documents, and engineering services for this new parking garage. Initial concepts for the garage were for a three-bay garage, with dedicated ramps in the middle to provide flat floors for parking and smoother exit. This design was eight stories and included up to 550 parking spaces. This style of garage requires a larger footprint, is more costly to construct and, while the parking space sizes always remain constant, there is less parking per square foot than in a more utilitarian design.
Initial cost estimates from the Construction Manager at Risk firm exceeded $33 million on a project initially estimated to be $26 million. The higher estimated construction costs were due to the more elaborate design, and concerns with the foundation as geotechnical studies indicated the need for deeper foundation shafts.
Additionally, the garage was being built on land previously owned by Peace Memorial Church with stipulations included in the sales agreement for their property. Among the stipulations was an enhanced façade, a guarantee of parking for church activities, and accommodations for their A/C Chiller unit if they were unable to connect their existing lines to the Pinellas County Central Energy Plant. If they were unable to hook to the County plant, the relocation of the chiller became the responsibility of the City. At that time, indications were that Peace Memorial could easily connect to the County’s chilled water system. Later it was learned that the County plant was unable to accommodate Peace Memorial without significant added expense of approximately $1,500,000 to increase capacity of the plant and no guarantee that the plant would remain in operation after the County relocated.
Due to the larger footprint of the building, any possible location for the chiller has significant challenges. Additionally, Duke Energy is reluctant to place a transformer for the project because of the confined spaces they’d be forced to place it in.
Over the next several months, solutions were sought, and several changes were made to the original design to address the excessive budget and the mechanical engineering challenges. Early value engineering reduced the estimated costs significantly, but it was still not possible to get below the $26 million budget and address all the engineering challenges. Given the impasse, it was determined to pursue a more space efficient two-bay garage design to more efficiently meet our contractual obligations and budgetary constraints. The new design will have a smaller footprint and foundation, leaving room for some of the mechanical components outside of the garage. Additionally, the new design will be seven stories and include 377 parking spaces. Initial estimates by the CMAR show that the new design will save $3.2 million over the previous design. That amount includes the additional fees being sought under this supplemental work order. Due to changes to future bluff projects and realized experience at Coachman Park, staff believes 377 spaces provides the optimal cost to benefit ratio and sufficient inventory to support Coachman Park and downtown retail development.
Harvard Jolly has performed a significant amount of work on the previous concept. This new design requires a significant rework of the concept and design and early design phase, requiring $452,552 to proceed with the new design. Once approved, the team will do their best to expedite the redesign and cost estimating and expect to bring a Guaranteed Maximum Price to Council before Spring 2025, with construction beginning midyear 2025.
The additional design fees in this supplemental work order are for a redesign of a public parking garage to be built behind the Peace Memorial Church, on S. Osceola Ave. The primary reason for the redesign is to take advantage of and eliminate $3.2 million in construction expenses to keep the project within budget. With these savings on construction fees, the $452,552 in additional design fees will be recouped during the construction phase of the project.
APPROPRIATION CODE AND AMOUNT:
ENPK230001-DSGN-PROSVC $452,552
Funds are available in capital improvement project ENPK230001, Downtown Parking Garage, to fund this contract. This project is funded by revenues from the Parking Fund.
STRATEGIC PRIORITY:
1.2 - Maintain public mobility systems through systematic management efforts. 1.5 - Embrace a culture of innovation that drives continuous improvement and serves all our customers. 2.1- Strengthen public-private initiatives that attract, develop, and retain diversified business sectors. 2.3 - Promote Clearwater as a premiere destination for entertainment, cultural experiences, and tourism. 3.2 - Preserve community livability through responsible development standards and targeted revitalization. 4.4 - Develop accessible and active transportation networks that enhance pedestrian safety and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
