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DC SPORTS & ENTERTAINMENT COMMISSION APPROVES RECOMMENDATION FOR CONSTRUCTION MANAGER OF NEW WASHINGTON NATIONALS BALLPARKJoint Venture Team of Clark Construction, Hunt Construction Group and Smoot Construction of Washington, DC Selected(Washington, DC)—The Board of Directors of the DC Sports and Entertainment Commission (DCSEC) has accepted the recommendation of its Chief Executive Officer Allen Y. Lew to award the construction management services contract for the new Washington Nationals Ballpark to the joint venture team of Clark Construction, Hunt Construction Group and Smoot Construction of Washington, DC. Specifically, the recommendation includes entering into a contract for $9.35 million for construction and design management services, which include pre-development activities valued at approximately $700,000. Additionally, $13.875 million in reimbursable general conditions* costs is authorized for development of the facility along the Anacostia Waterfront. The total $23.2 million contract will be sent to the Council of the District of Columbia for approval. "This has been a lengthy process," said Lew, "but I believe our evaluation committee did a remarkable job and I concurred with their recommendation that the Clark-Hunt-Smoot team offers the strongest, most experienced team. This is going to be a demanding effort to build an exceptional facility within a very tight schedule. The experience of this team is unmatched in the industry." In addition to the Clark-Hunt-Smoot joint venture, two other teams presented proposals including Turner Construction-Guilford Community Partners; and Barton Malow-WhitingTurner-Essex construction companies. Each proposal was evaluated by the four-member evaluation committee consisting of DCSEC staff and program management consultants. DCSEC Board Chairman Mark H. Tuohey praised the bidders and evaluation panel. "Today’s decision is important not only for the Sports Commission but for the economic future of the Anacostia Waterfront. Our CEO and the evaluation panel had three great teams to consider and performed very extensive due diligence to reach their recommendation." The companies were judged on seven criteria: experience, key employees, a management plan, fees, an understanding of the construction schedule, a completion guarantee and a realistic plan to achieve 50 percent sub-contracting with LSDBE firms. The Clark-Hunt-Smoot team exhibited significantly more experience than the other offerers in building major league ballparks, presented the best LSDBE utilization plan and scored higher on four of the seven ranking factors. According to Mr. Lew, while all three bidders had experience constructing large, fast-track projects in urban settings, the Clark-Hunt-Smoot team had unequaled experience in the construction of Major League Baseball (MLB) facilities and presented a superior approach to LSDBE contracting. Additionally, the Clark-Hunt-Smoot team has worked on many projects with the Sports Commission’s architects, the joint venture of HOK Sport and DC-based Devrouax & Purnell Architects. Specifically, since 1990, members of the Clark-Hunt-Smoot team have worked on 15 MLB ballparks, 10 of which have involved HOK Sport as the architect. "As members of the Washington, D.C. community for nearly 100 years, Clark Construction is thrilled to be a part of this important milestone in the city's history," said William L. Talbert, president of Clark's Mid-Atlantic Region. "Along with Hunt Construction Group and Smoot Construction of Washington, D.C., our joint venture partners, we are excited to be building the Nationals' new ballpark, and look forward to constructing a facility of which the nation's capital can be proud." The Clark and Smoot companies also teamed-up on construction of the award-winning Washington Convention Center for which Mr. Lew previously served as Managing Director of Development and Interim General Manager and Chief Executive Officer. Devrouax-Purnell was part of the design team for the convention center and MCI Arena which Clark built as well. "As part of the Clark-Hunt-Smoot joint venture, Smoot Construction is honored to be selected by the DC Sports and Entertainment Commission for the construction management team," said Mark Smoot Cain, president of Smoot Construction Company. "We are excited about the opportunity to work with some of the nation's best ballpark designers and builders to manage construction of D.C.'s major league ballpark, and we look forward to the successful completion of the new ballpark in time for the 2008 baseball season." The design for the ballpark is proceeding and will be unveiled later this fall. Plans for relocation of utilities are also underway to prepare for the expected early 2006 official project groundbreaking. |
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