Renovating Renaissance Square might not cost as much as the city originally expected.
The bids for general contractor are all in. The lowest was $2 million less than the city expected.
The city says the extra money will likely go toward more renovations. The city has a list of items that can now be added onto the project since it's come in under budget. The city doest know for certain which alternates they'll choose, but have a pretty good idea.
8 contractors placed bids to renovate Renaissance Square. Not a single one was over $5 million.
The cheapest bid was $4.2 million by CCI Commercial Construction. Their bid was $2 million under what the city expected it to cost.
Pat Roller, the City Controller, says “Because the bids came in relatively low we will be able to do some items we felt would be necessary but not critical.”
Add-on’s the city is now looking to include are carpeting the 2nd and 3rd floors and putting in a new boiler.
Cory Miller, an Architect, Schenkel Shultz, says “There's a lot of places in the carpet that are either excessively worn or it's a patchwork quilt. Based on years and years of changes and difference spaces.”
The total cost of the project isn't included in the bids. IT and security haven't been factor into the cost yet, but the city is optimistic they'll spend less than anticipated. Roller says “Given what we know today were very confident that we will be able to bring that project in under budget.”
The contractor bids will go to city council Tuesday. The city controller hopes construction will begin shortly after council approves a bid. The project is expected to be complete April, 2011.
