The Howard County Housing Commission (the "Commission" or "Owner") seeks proposals from qualified and experienced firms that specialize in the construction of urban-style, mixed-use buildings. As further described in this Request for Proposals ("RFP"), the selected firm (the "Contractor") will be tasked with representing the Commission during the predevelopment, construction, and close-out phases of a planned urban-style, mixed-use building in Columbia, Maryland. See Exhibit A for a description of the project (the "Project"). The Project will be the first of five buildings that the Commission is slated to develop in the fast-urbanizing Downtown Columbia district of Howard County over the next decade. Three of the additional four buildings will be mixed-use with residential apartments built above a new library, a new fire station, and a new transit center. The fourth remaining building will consist of residential apartments only. The Project consists of three components - a 120,000 square foot arts center, a 174 unit apartment building, and a parking garage of approximately 650 spaces. The arts center will occupy the first two floors of the building, and the residential component will primarily occupy the top 5 levels. Construction of the arts center will commence first and will take approximately 2 years before residential construction can begin on the podium deck. Construction of the garage will take place concurrently with construction of the arts center and residential building. The Project is currently in the final stage of construction document preparation. Construction of the arts center is expected to commence in 2022, and construction of the residential building is expected to commence in 2024 and be completed in 2026. The Artists Flats project will be a 5-story wood-frame building constructed on top of the new cultural center. Amenities will include a fitness center, elevated veranda, landscaped courtyard, and resident lounge. The project will contain 174 units, of which 87 will be restricted as affordable units under the federal Low-Income Housing Tax Credit program ("LIHTC") and 87 will be unrestricted market-rate units. The housing project will be legally divided into two condos, with market-rate units included in each condo. The two condos will be divided vertically The contract period shall be for one year after approval and proper execution of the contract documents, with renewal options in one-year increments through the final construction close-out of the Project, exercisable at the sole discretion of the Commission. Questions concerning this RFP must be made in writing and e-mailed to questions@househoward.org. Questions must be received no later than 5:00 p.m. ET on December 13, 2021. Answers to questions and any addenda/amendments to the RFP will be posted by December 17, 2021
.webp)
