6 JVs shortlisted for NYC jail projects worth at least $6B

Dive Brief:

Former New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio and the city's Department of Design and Construction (DDC) have created a shortlist of six joint ventures to design and construct four borough-based jails, according to a press release from the mayor's office. Mayor de Blasio's term ended on Dec. 31.
The four smaller jails are intended to offer more humane conditions than the current facility at Rikers Island, which will close in 2027, according to the release. Competition is stiff for some of the projects: JVs led by Tutor Perini are competing with a partnership comprised of Lendlease Corp. and Halmar International for the jail in Brooklyn, and two finalists are also competing for the Bronx facility.
The projects are using guaranteed maximum price contracts (GMP), which entail a precise, two-step scoping and pricing process. Proposers offer a "target price" during the RFP stage followed by a collaborative phase with the city in which the parties develop and commit to a buildable "contract price," according to an August press release. Each jail budget will be between $1.5 to $1.8 billion, though the final price will be negotiated between the contractors and the city.

Dive Insight:

Each of the jails will be an 886-bed high-rise located within each of the boroughs listed. The six shortlisted contractors all submitted a statement of qualifications (SOQ) that the city government took into account when selecting finalists for each project.

"The response from the design community is encouraging given the scale and importance of this incredible project," said NYC Department of Correction Commissioner Vincent Schiraldi in the release.

There will be one JV for each of the projects, located in Manhattan, Brooklyn, the Bronx and Queens, though there are two JVs at two of the projects currently. The JVs selected for each of the projects, and their tentative start dates, are as follows:

Manhattan: Gilbane Building Co. and the Alberici Corp. Final RFP due fall 2022, construction to begin late next year.
Brooklyn: Two teams are competing for this spot: a JV of Lendlease Corp. and Halmar International, and one led by Tutor Perini. Following a final RFP and selection, construction is slated to begin in late 2022 or early 2023.
Queens: An RFP for the site will be issued to the Leon D. DeMatteis Construction Corp. in summer 2022. Construction is slated to begin in Spring 2023.
Bronx: An RFP for the Bronx site will be issued in the summer of 2022 to Transformative Reform Group, LLC, led by SLSCO and Sciame Construction, and to Cauldwell Wingate 2022 Company, LLC. Following the selection of one of these teams, construction will begin in summer 2023.

The city is using GMP contracts to help prevent cost overruns throughout the building process. Levi Barrett, a partner at the New York office of Peckar & Abramson, told Construction Dive in September that the GMP contract would bring different accounting to the table, as opposed to a more standard lump-sum contract.

"It's like with any contract, really, understanding the deal that you're getting into is very, very important. If you've never done the design-build contract in your life, you need to be prepared to know what you don't already know," Barrett told Construction Dive.

The entirety of the project will be turned over to the Department of Correction in 2027.