The Services to be provided under these contracts consists of providing project specific architectural and related services for the Town on an as needed basis for current and future projects. Pursuant to Florida Statutes 287.055, the Consultants' Competitive Negotiation Act, projects issued under the awarded contracts are limited to those in which the total construction cost is under $2 million, or study activities under $200,000.
The Town has need for architectural services in the following disciplines: (1) General Architectural Services; (2) Interior Design; and (3) Landscape Architecture. In the Request for Qualifications (“RFQ”), Proposers were given the opportunity to select which disciplines their Proposal should be considered for.
The Town issued RFQ 2017-31 for Miscellaneous Architectural & Related Services on June 14, 2017. An advertisement for the solicitation was placed in the June 14, 2017 edition of the Miami Daily Business Review, legal notice was posted in the lobby of Town Hall, and 1,262 firms were notified through DemandStar. Copies of the solicitation were made available through DemandStar and the Town's website.
Prospective Proposers were required to be licensed to offer architectural services in the State of Florida, have a minimum of five (5) years' experience performing design services for similar projects, and have completed at least three (3) projects of a similar size, scope and complexity in the past five (5) years.
By the Proposal Deadline, July 24, 2017, we received seven (7) Proposals from the following firms:
1. Amec Foster Wheeler Environment & Infrastructure, Inc. (“Amec Foster”);
2. BEA Architects, Inc. (“BEA”);
3. Bermello Ajamil & Partners, Inc. (“Bermello”);
4. MC Harry & Associates, Inc. (“MC Harry”);
5. Miller Legg & Associates, Inc. (“Miller Legg”);
6. Rodriguez Peterson & Porras Architects, Inc. (“RPPA”); and
7. Rodriguez and Quiroga Architects Chartered (“R&Q”).
An Evaluation Committee (“Committee”) was appointed on August 14, 2017, consisting of the following individuals:
1. Tony Lopez, Chief of Operations and Committee Chairperson, Town of Miami Lakes;
2. Eliezer Palacio, Building Official, Town of Miami Lakes;
3. Vanessa Delgado, Public Works Manager, Town of Miami Lakes; and
4. Raul de la Sierra, Owner and General Contractor, Sierra Commercial Construction, Inc.
The Evaluation Committee met on August 18, 2017 and established the following rankings in each discipline for award in the following manner:
General Architectural Services
1. MC Harry (372);
2. Bermello (338);
3. BEA (287);
4. Amec Foster (286);
5. R&Q (275); and
6. RPPA (215).
Interior Design
1. Bermello (351);
2. R&Q (312); and
3. BEA (282).
Landscape Architecture
1. Bermello (355); and
2. Miller Legg (311).
To ensure that a sufficient pool of firms is available to provide architectural services to the Town, the Committee shortlisted the ranking of “General Architectural Services” to the top five (5) firms, and recommended entering negotiations with the top two (2) firms in each discipline. However, the Manager's recommendation is to enter negotiations and award to the top two (2) firms in General Architectural Services and Landscape Architecture, and to one (1) firm in Interior Design since the Town currently has only one significant interior design project earmarked for these services, the Senior Center at the Senior Village.
MC Harry is a Miami-based architectural and interior design firm with 60 years' experience providing planning and design services to a variety of municipalities. The personnel proposed to provide services under this contract have collaborated on continuing services and capital improvement contracts with a variety of other municipalities in the South Florida region. In the past, the firm has worked with the Town on various projects including the design of the Government Center that now serves as our Town Hall and the Roberto Alonso Community Center. Our experience has been that the firm is responsive, provides quality design work and has a team of experienced professionals in the area of municipal architectural design.
Bermello is a larger multi-disciplinary firm with over 25 years of experience providing architecture services to many governmental agencies throughout South Florida. Bermello has worked with several municipalities, including City of Doral, City of Pompano Beach, Homestead, and other smaller municipalities on projects that are similar in size and scope to those that would be performed under our contract. As a larger multi-disciplinary firm, Bermello is uniquely capable of tackling a multitude of project types of varied nature and complexity. Bermello worked under the Town's previous continuing architectural services contract and has provided design work mainly for parks and open space areas such as the dog recreation area, 77th Court Beautification Project, and the Town's Beautification Master Plan.
Miller Legg is a 52-year-old company that specializes in providing a wide-array of landscape architectural services. Their team includes a full gamut of landscape professionals comprised of several registered landscape architects, landscape and irrigation designers, landscape inspectors, certified arborists, GIS coordinators, biologists, environmental specialists, and others. Miller Legg has a history with the Town, which includes the design of the NW 170 Greenway project. Our experience with Miller Legg is that they are responsive and provide quality landscape architectural services.
Based on the above, it is recommended that the Town Council authorize the Town Manager to enter negotiations with the two (2) top ranked firms in General Architecture Services and Landscape Architecture, and the top ranked firm in Interior Design and, upon mutual agreement, enter contracts with said firms. Our position is that any of the shortlisted firms, or any of the firms proposing in “Interior Design” or “Landscape Architecture”, can provide the services required by the Town. As such, if negotiations with any of the top two (2) ranked firms in each discipline should fail, then negotiations will be conducted with the next highest ranked firm until two (2) firms in General Architecture Services and Landscape Architecture, and one (1) firm in Interior Design agree to contract with the Town.