By Tasha Anderson for AZBEX
After the long-awaited $230M renovation plan for the Talking Stick Resort Arena passed with a 6-2 City Council vote on January 23rd, the City of Phoenix and Phoenix Area Development Limited Partnership (PADLP) wasted no time in issuing the Requests for Qualifications to get the ball rolling.
The Arena, located at 201 East Jefferson Street in Downtown Phoenix, is home to the Phoenix Suns and the Phoenix Mercury and hosts more than 40 million guests. The Arena is in need of repair as the building’s infrastructure is approaching 30 years old.
“Basic plumbing, electrical, the roof and mechanical equipment needs replacement, loading docks and concourses are smaller that today’s multipurpose arenas, and building technology is becoming outdated,” according to the RFQs. “At 550KSF, the Arena has the smallest footprint of any NBA facility, and does not satisfy a significant number of current NBA Arena Standards.”
A total of three RFQs have been issued for the project. The City of Phoenix and PADLP are currently looking for an architect and a Construction Manager at Risk, and as of yesterday, the City of Phoenix issued an RFQ for an Owner’s Representative.
Owner’s Representation Services
The City of Phoenix issued an RFQ yesterday for a consultant team to serve as the owner’s representative to “assist the City in monitoring the renovation and expenditures, ensure all items in the project scope are completed, and to provide regular status reports to the City Manager and the Council.”
“The successful respondent will operate as an extension of staff on behalf of the City, and collaborate with arena management/Suns, the design team, contractor and arena stakeholders,” the RFQ states.
A pre-submittal meeting will be held at Phoenix City Hall on Monday, March 11th at 1:00p.m. and the statements of qualifications will be due on Tuesday, March 19 at 12:00p.m.
Architectural and CM@R Services
On February 21st, the City of Phoenix and PADLP issued RFQs for Architectural and Construction Manager at Risk services.
According to the RFQs, the selected architect, “will be required to perform the design, architectural, engineering and interior design services,” while the CM@R, “will begin their services in an agency support role for preconstruction services and then continue their services as the construction manager at risk.”
A pre-submittal meeting for the Architectural services RFQ will be held at the Arena on Tuesday, March 12th at 9:00a.m. The pre-submittal meeting for the CM@R services RFQ will be at 12:00p.m.
Statements of qualifications for both will be due on April 2nd at 5:00p.m. and contract finalization is expected to occur between April 16th-April 30th.
The project is expected to commence immediately after procurement. According to the Owner’s Representation RFQ, “The project is expected to start May 2019 with substantial completion of the project scheduled for August 1st, 2021. Project close out shall occur prior to commencement of the 2021 NBA season.”