The team preparing to redevelop a vacant Northeast Portland building into a food hall, bar and event space is seeking a construction manager/general contractor for the project.

The Prosper Portland Board of Commissioners on Wednesday voted unanimously to exempt the 910 MLK Building food hall project from the usual low-bid selection process and instead seek a CM-GC. Prosper Portland will issue a competitive request for proposals early next month.

The property, owned by Prosper Portland, is at 910 N.E. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., near the northeast corner of the Oregon Convention Center.

In January, the board authorized the inclusion of the food hall in the Lloyd-Holladay Urban Renewal Plan and approved the revised plan for the property. Portland-based Parti Architecture LLC will submit to the city design plans for review next month.

The project scope will include a major renovation of the building’s west side; demolition of structural elements on the east side while retaining portions of the roof and structural framework; and construction of infrastructure to support food carts on the lot’s southeast side.

The CM/GC method allows for a contractor to join the process about halfway through the design phase, said Wendy Wilcox, construction and compliance manager for Prosper Portland.

“Through our work in the community, contractors have told us this is a preferred method as through the RFP, they feel they can be more fairly evaluated, the project pricing is more accurate and they have time to gather the best team by being involved from design,” she said.

The estimated total project cost is $7.5 million, including $6 million for construction. A CM/GC delivery method will likely result in cost savings over a low-bid one, according to a Prosper Portland staff report, because of time savings, value engineering, funding source security, and less risk of change orders. Use of the CM/GC method will increase confidence of the project’s partners that the work will be completed within the scheduled time frame and budget, Wilcox said.

Contractors’ proposals will be evaluated by a panel considering a set of best value criteria, Wilcox said. A CM/GC is expected to be part of the preconstruction contract in April or May, she said. The CM/GC contract is expected to be presented to the board for approval this summer.

Construction is scheduled to start in the fall and finish in summer 2027.

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