By Alan Torres
Eugene Register-Guard

Springfield City Council has voted against pursuing an expedited process for city hall renovations, forgoing a staff recommendation, after urging from local construction industry leaders.

“I don’t know that this is the right process for Springfield,” said City Councilor Kori Rodley, joining the unanimous vote.

The process she referred to was Construction Manager/General Contractor.

Oregon law states government agencies in “shall make every effort to construct public improvements at the least cost” through a competitive bid process, but carves out an exception for CM/GC contracts.

Local governments choose CM/GCs because they’re faster than regular government contracts and because they can prevent cost overruns by capping the cost of a contract.

But leaders of local construction firms told Springfield City Council and the Register-Guard that recently, governments have been overusing the practice, which they believe favors larger, out-of-state firms.

Local contractors push back on expedited contracting

Jerry Valencia, owner of Lowell-based Bridgeway Contracting, was one of the local construction leaders who urged councilors to reconsider. Valencia told the Register-Guard he’s seen local governments in Lane County gradually increase their use of CM/GC since 2009, and the change has harmed local businesses.

“These large contractors keep getting a little bit bigger, and bigger and bigger,” he said, while fewer projects are awarded “to the general contractors that actually provide livable wages, family health care, and actually pay the taxes for that bond.”

At a June 22 Springfield City Council meeting, councilors were scheduled to approve a CM/GC process for the city hall maintenance project. The vote would have narrowed the city’s search from the seven contractors that applied to two finalists staff had scored highest (both of which were large multi-state) firms, before the parties submitted cost estimates.

At the City Council meeting, City Manager Nancy Newton said the CM/GC process is warranted because the city hall upgrades are urgent.

“The city has really tried to take this building as far as it can in the least expensive way for a very long time,” she said. “We have two portable air conditioning units that aren’t really working that well … the building itself is conveying some urgency to this decision and I’m really reluctant to postpone it any further.”

Staff also said they believe the CM/GC process saves money. Assistant City Attorney Kristina Kraaz told councilors she doesn’t think the city would find a cheaper contract if it opens up the competitive process.

Valencia disagreed. He said in his experience, CM/GC drives up the cost of contracting, because it’s less competitive and firms awarded a CM/GC contract will always charge the maximum allowed in the contract.

City council opts to give local contractors chance to bid

Councilors unanimously voted to pursue the longer process. They said it was important to give local employers an opportunity to bid for the city work.

“The construction industry right now is really slow, and they have crews and people sitting at home and families that they’d like to be supporting,” Councilor Michelle Webber said.

Valencia called City Council’s decision “a great victory for the Lane County construction community.” Valencia said he would bid for the contract, and he expects other local construction firms will, as well.

Most cases don’t get this outcome

In this case, local contractors successfully pushed back on the plan to award a CM/GC contract, but that’s not the typical result.

On June 26, Lane County notified the firms who had applied to build the Lane County Stabilization Center, that they had narrowed their search from the 10 firms who had applied, to three finalists in another CM/GC process.

In this case, the county didn’t rely on urgency to justify the CM/GC process. Instead in Lane County’s “Notice of Pending Exemption from Competitive Bidding,” the county said it pursued CM/GC because it wanted to consider “qualitative factors” in addition to cost.

“Variables such as unique attributes being required in the design/construction of such a stabilization facility, challenges inherent in new construction on undeveloped land, and the overall magnitude of the project helped inform this decision,” the notice said.

According to Lane County’s scores of these proposals, shared with the Register-Guard by Valencia and John Hyland Construction, two of the 10 firms that applied are based in Lane County. One of those: Eugene-based Essex, advanced, while Springfield-based John Hyland Construction did not. Instead, Lane County named Lake Oswego-based Pence Contractors and Skanska to the final round.

According to the scoring document, Skanska outscored Hyland on “firm history,” “qualifications and experience,” “project staffing” and “project approach.” They tied on “fee proposal.”

In an email forwarded to the Register-Guard, John Hyland Construction President Shaun Hyland objected to the scoring.

“Our local government should be picking on lowest price on a competitive basis, not based on how well our marketing department does,” he wrote.

The post City hall project shines spotlight on CM/GC process appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

National developer Greystar and a joint-venture partner have purchased a property near the University of Oregon campus in Eugene to construct a $100 million student housing project.

An existing Travelodge hotel, at 476 E. Broadway, will be demolished to make way for a 12-story, 357-unit multifamily building geared toward students.

Greystar, a Charleston, S.C.-based developer that has a Portland office, and joint-venture partner Star America Infrastructure Partners purchased the hotel property from the lodging operator.

Union on Broadway is the first joint project from Greystar and Star America Infrastructure Partners, and it also the first in Eugene for Greystar.

Portland-based Ankrom Moisan Architects is designing the project, and John Hyland Construction of Springfield will build it.

Demolition will begin later this month. Completion is projected for August 2022, ahead of the start of the 2022-23 school year for UO students.

Doug Burges, director of development for Greystar, said the firm was attracted to rising student enrollment at UO and a series of major redevelopments in Eugene, including the $1 billion Knight Campus for Accelerating Scientific Impact, the Fifth Street Public Market expansion and the riverfront redevelopment led by Williams & Dame.

The 1.1-acre site is within a short walk of campus and also downtown Eugene.

Union on Broadway will offer units with one to four bedrooms. Retail space will occupy the ground floor.

The post $100 million housing project planned in Eugene appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

Core Spaces, a Chicago-based developer known for upscale student housing, is building its next project in Portland.

Construction of The Collective on 4th – a 15-story, 417-unit luxury residential tower – is now under way on a full block near the Portland State University campus, at the intersection of Southwest Fourth Avenue and Harrison Street. The building will include ground-floor retail space – potentially a grocery store – and 278 below-grade parking spaces. The apartments will be a mix of micro-units, studios and one-, two- and three-bedroom units with an array of amenities suited for young urban professionals.

“Really, at Core, what we’ve always done is to build campus properties in an urban setting – places like Madison, Wisconsin, or West Lafayette, Indiana,” said Chip Schell, vice president of new business for Core Spaces. “And they’re always conveniently located where our residents could walk or take transit; they really fit that model. And Portland really fit that model.”

Chicago firm Hartshorne Plunkard Architecture designed the building, while John Hyland Construction of Springfield is the general contractor. Ground was broken in May 2017. Completion is scheduled for late 2019.

“So right now we’re pouring the second floor and part of the third floor, and our last concrete pour is scheduled for the end of January 2019,” said Jeff Durmaj, project manager for John Hyland Construction. “Starting a little bit later this summer we’re following with all the mechanical trades, HVAC systems, fire protection, electrical work – all this stuff is starting to follow.”

What was originally a U-shaped building oriented toward Southwest Fourth Avenue transformed over the course of six meetings with the Portland Design Commission into an L-shaped structure that opens toward Pettygrove Park on the northeast side. Inside the tower’s two wings, a four-story section tops out with a tree-lined amenity deck intended to smoothly connect the building with the park.

Materially, The Collective on 4th will include a structurally glazed window wall system with aluminum slab edge covers on the upper parts of the south and west sides. The rest of the exterior will have roughly 75 percent glass and 25 percent metal panels.

It’s the interior of these future apartments, however, that’s really meant to capture attention. There are quartz countertops, stainless steel appliances and Bluetooth shower speakers in each unit. Every resident will have access to a pair of rooftop hot tubs, a fire pit and barbecue stations, as well as a large fitness center, a steam room, a sauna, a dog park and even a bocce ball court.

University students won’t be the only demographic targeted for The Collective on 4th.

“We’ll be including students in our marketing approach, so they’re certainly be an appeal there,” Schell said. “What we’re trying to do is take a brand that’s been successful to a more targeted group and then expanding it. This is something that’s unique to The Collective; this is the first time we’re doing it.”

Dennis Huffing, Core Spaces senior general manager in charge of leasing at The Collective on 4th, said the idea is to provide more options for both students and young professionals attracted to the central city, as well as fill Portland’s incessant need for more housing overall.

“We’re not leaning toward one or the other; we want everybody to have more options,” he said.

The Collective on 4th is one of the four primary styles of residential housing currently being developed by Core Spaces. The others include the Hub on Campus, State on Campus and The James. The Collective on 4th is the firm’s first attempt at this brand, and its second project in Oregon. Its first was in 2015: an eight-story, 183-unit Hub on Campus building near the University of Oregon in Eugene.

“What we’ve done with The Collective is really try to expand and take what’s been successful with our Hub brand and bring it to a wider audience,” Schell said.

The post Chicago developer adding upscale housing near PSU appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

Core Spaces, a Chicago-based developer known for building upscale student housing, has chosen Portland as the next market it intends to impact.

To that end, the firm is developing , a 15-story, 417-unit luxury residential tower currently under construction on a full block site marked by the intersection of Southwest Fourth Avenue and Harrison Street on the Portland State University campus. When completed in late 2019, the building will include ground floor retail space, potentially a rumored grocery store, while the residential units will have an array of amenities suited for young urban professionals. The general contractor on the job is John Hyland Construction of Springfield.

Check out this new video below that shows off some of the work that currently is happening on-site. And check back with us in the near future for the complete feature story about this project.

The post VIDEO: Collective on Fourth offers life of luxury appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

Core Spaces will break ground in October on a 15-story luxury apartment project at Southwest Fourth Avenue and Harrison Street in Portland‘s South Auditorium District.

The building, named The Collective on 4th, will offer expansive gardens, views of the Willamette River and the Cascades, and ground-floor retail space. New & Neville Real Estate Services has reached agreement to bring in a grocery store as an anchor tenant.

The building will feature 417 units – a mix of micros, studios, and one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments – 278 parking spaces, outdoor living spaces, a fitness center, a rooftop chef’s kitchen and lounge, and a business center.

John Hyland Construction is the primary contractor. The project is scheduled for completion in fall 2018.

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