Art in Architecture for the New U.S. Courthouse in Rockford, Illinois

Landscape Contractor Services for the Art in Architecture program related to the New U.S. Federal Courthouse in Rockford, Illinois. THIS IS A SOURCES SOUGHT SYNOPSIS ONLY. THIS IS NOT A REQUEST FOR OFFERS OR PROPOSALS. THIS NOTICE DOES NOT REPRESENT A COMMITMENT BY THE GOVERNMENT TO ISSUE A SOLICITATION OR AWARD A CONTRACT. INFORMATION RECEIVED WILL BE USED TO DETERMINE THE AVAILABILITY OF TECHNICALLY CAPABLE AND OTHERWISE RESPONSIBLE FIRMS THAT WOULD BE INTERESTED IN SUBMITTING OFFERS FOR THIS ANTICIPATED SOLICITATION. The General Services Administration (GSA) Great Lakes Region, Design & Construction Division is conducting a market survey and is seeking qualified firms to provide landscape contractor services for the Art in Architecture project at the New U.S. Federal Courthouse in Rockford, Illinois. GSA is seeking a Landscape Contractor to provide nursery and landscape services in support of the Art and Architecture program related to the construction of the New U.S. Courthouse in Rockford, Illinois. The project scope for this procurement is to find a Landscape Contractor to provide landscape services. The services will be comprised of the base contract work as (generally) described herein plus three (3) one year options to the contract to provide maintenance. The base contract work includes but is not limited to the selection of 104 crabapple trees which shall be planted at the project site. Harvesting, preparation, transporting trees, planting, lawn repair seeding, and installation of steel edging and French drains are all included in the base contract work. A selection of five distinct varieties of crabapple trees will comprise the 104 trees. Trees shall be planted in the quantity(ies) & pattern indicated in the contract documents. The tree installation will be irrigated by work provided by others. The Contractor shall coordinate irrigation volume with others. The Contractor, in cooperation with the Owner, the Landscape Architect, and the Owner's Artistic consultant, shall identify & contract with nursery(ies) possessing sufficient plant inventory in the varieties specified in the contract documents, by no later than fall 2009. Trees shall be tagged for use on this project in the desired quantities, including excess, to ensure that adequate quantities of healthy trees are available for planting, by no later than fall 2010. All trees harvested for planting shall fall within a size range of 2-to-3 caliper. The targeted planting period is spring 2011. The completed installation will be considered a living piece of art, as part of the Art-in-Architecture program. Bid options 1, 2, & 3 include weekly maintenance of the tree installation and extended warranties covering the same. The maintenance of the turf is not included in the scope of work. The "best value trade-off process" will be utilized in this procurement for the evaluation of offers and the selection of the successful Offeror to receive the award. The Government will select the proposal that represents the best value based on the evaluation of both the technical factors and the total evaluated price. For this procurement, the technical will be significantly more important than price. The technical factors will include experience and past performance on similar projects, qualifications and experience of key personnel, project plan and geographical location/ proximity to project site (100 mile radius from the project site). The procurement will be issued as a lump sum, firm fixed-price contract open to all business concerns in accordance with the Small Business Competitive Demonstration Program. The estimated total construction cost for the project falls within the range of $100,000.00 and $250,000.00. The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) Code for this project is 236220 with a size standard of $33.5 million. These services will be procured under the Small Business Competitiveness Demonstration Program and may be set aside for 8(a), HUBZone, Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small (SDVOSB) or Small Business (SB) businesses. This Sources Sought announcement is issued to solicit written expressions of interest from certified and qualified 8(a), HUBZone, Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned and Small Business (SB) CMa firms. All firms shall submit a letter of interest on company letter head. Please limit submissions to 3 pages. This letter shall include the following: 1) Firm's point of contact, with mailing address, e-mail address and telephone number 2) Firm's type of business - 8(a), HUBZone, SDVOSB or Small Business (SB) 3) Intent to team with another firm and anticipated teaming arrangement Letters of interest must be submitted no later than Tuesday, August 18, 2009. Send letters to the attention of Oana Oprean, Contracting Specialist (5PE1), General Services Administration, 230 South Dearborn Street, Room 3600; Chicago, Illinois 60604 or Oana.Oprean@gsa.gov Additional details regarding the pre-proposal conference will be included in the RFP. Point of Contact. Any questions regarding this notification should be directed to Oana Oprean, Contract Specialist, Phone 312-353-4001, Fax 312-353-1491, Email oana.oprean@gsa.gov or Lisa Gonzalez, Contracting Officer, Phone (312) 886-4106, Fax (312) 353-1491, Email lisa.gonzalez@gsa.gov.