Bidding and Contract Negotiation: TWO
Projects
are Better Than ONE
There were 2 sets of agreements on the Northside project because there
are really 2 projects in 1, essentially (the Senior Affordable Housing
and Community Center). Because of the 2 projects, there were 2 different
owners on this development (BRIDGE and the City of San Jose).
Two Separate goals created a situation where the projects were designed
and constructed in two different phases and this, in turn, made it necessary
to have two separate construction contracts. Isaac Henderson from BRIDGE
writes, "It was also an easy way to determine the cost breakdown
between the two projects. However, a portion of the community center was
developed in Phase I and therefore the Phase I contract also includes
some community center costs." The housing portion had to be built
within a restricted time frame, because of the low income tax credits
they received. The tax credits required that the construction begin and
end within 2 years. If this time were exceeded, the money would not be
received. Therefore, housing could not wait for the Community Center to
finish their budget and needed to begin construction. In order for this
to work, the Community Center (City of San Jose) sold a portion of their
half of the land to the Housing Department/Bridge($512,000.00). The City
of San Jose (Community Center) then took the money for the land and gave
it back to Bridge and the Housing department in order for the shell (below
some of the housing) to be built.
Phase I costs were determined between August 2000 to December 20 of 2000.Phase
II costs were determined between August 2001 and October 2001. Isaac Henderson
from BRIDGE comments, "For Phase II, however, the city was not ready
to fund the development and the budget was not approved until June of
2002. Because of the delay, the October GMP was slightly adjusted."
People Involved
Phase I: Owner, Architect, Contractor, and City of San Jose Department
of HousingPhase II: BRIDGE, City of San Jose, Architect, and Contractor
