MAPS 3 center to include $9M in ‘add’ options
More than $9 million in desired convention center finishes and additions will be bid separately for potential savings to keep the MAPS 3 project within budget.
The base project estimate, $193.5 million, is just $500,000 short of the budget previously set by the Oklahoma City Council. The estimate includes a 10 percent contingency budget that includes $1.6 million added to reflect anticipated material costs due to hurricane recovery efforts in Texas and Florida.
Kevin Koch, an architect with Populous, reported designs are now at 95 percent in a presentation given Tuesday to the MAPS 3 Citizens Advisory subcommittee tasked with overseeing the convention center project.
Projects no longer included in the anticipated base project bids to be solicited by contractors include a SW 4 street plaza and a skywalk between the convention center and an adjoining Omni Hotel, a 540-space surface parking lot, ballroom light riggings, exterior vertical shade fins and a central utility plant.
The separate bid items, known as “add alternates,” are a common practice within the MAPS programs to keep projects on budget. Sometimes the bids come in lower than expected and the add alternates are awarded along with the base bid. Other times, the items are dropped and later added, as was done with a pedestrian and overlook bridge at Riversport Rapids.
But sometimes add alternates never get awarded.
The surface parking lot is to be built on land acquired south of the convention center that is otherwise reserved for future expansion of the venue. The Oklahoma City Urban Renewal Authority remains in negotiations with OGE Energy Corp. to acquire the utility’s data center at SW 3 and E.K. Gaylord that would allow for construction of a garage adjacent to the convention center and the Omni.
David Todd, MAPS 3 program manager, said some of the items like the surface parking likely will be built with other funding if not included in the base project. The central utility plant cost may be reduced dramatically if the city enters into a later agreement with Veolia Energy to provide service from its downtown plant.
Both Mike Mize, whose firm is a consultant for the MAPS 3 project and creates its own cost estimate, and Koch with Populous agree the latest budget numbers are as accurate as possible. The project is expected to go to bid by next spring.
“We feel the estimates are getting as close as they can be without bidding it and seeing where they end,” Koch said. “We feel there are enough contingencies built in that we are in good shape. We don’t know who will be bidding, but we are seeing some good interest.”