THIS PROCUREMENT IS BEING ISSUED UNDER THE COMPETITIVE 8 (A) PROCEDURES. COMPETITION WILL BE LIMITED TO 8 (A) FIRMS LOCATED WITHIN THE SURROUNDING GEOGRAPHICAL AREA SERVICES BY THE SBA-MISSISSIPPI DISTRICT OFFICE AND FIRMS WITHIN LA, TN, AL AND GA. The target ceiling for contract award for design and construction is $16,000,000.00. The Government cannot guarantee that additional funds can be made available for award. Offerors are under no obligation to approach this amount. This project is for the Design and Construction of an office facility consisting of approximately 70,000 square feet of office, conference and general use space for the Environmental Laboratory (EL) at the Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC) located in Vicksburg, Mississippi. The Design-Build process will have two distinct phases. Phase-I will be the pre-qualification process, where the Government will select 2 to 5 Design-Build Contractors on the basis of Project Organization and Personnel, Offeror's Experience and Resource Commitment, Management Control Systems, Past Performance, Management/Technical Compliance Certification, and Financial Capacity. The elements are listed in descending order of importance with Project Organization and Personnel being the most important and the remaining elements becoming increasingly less important. Only the selected Design-Build Contractors will then qualify for the Phase-II of the process. In Phase-II of the procurement procedure, offerors will be given the opportunity to offer their preliminary design and cost proposals. Final selection and basis for award of the design-build contract will be on the basis of Qualifications, Technical Quality, Price, and Other Salient Factors considered to be in the Government's best interests. The elements are listed in descending order of importance with Qualifications being the most important and the remaining elements becoming increasingly less important. A stipend in the amount of $25,000.00 will be paid to all unsuccessful Phase II offerors whose technical proposal meets the solicitation requirements. No stipend will be paid to any offeror that withdraws from the competition prior to award. This is not a low bid award project. If awarded the contract, the offeror shall complete the design and construction documents and construct the facility in compliance with these completed requirements. The new building will consist of providing individual office space accommodating 289 employees with capability for 25 percent expansion. The building could be two or three stories and shall be sited to increase visibility and impact from the initial approach to the building. The D-B Contractor shall design the new building with parking, sidewalks, landscaping, etc. for a campus-like environment. The new building shall complement other structures in the area around the building. However, design and construction creativity and innovation is encouraged. Environmental Laboratory (EL) of the Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC) has several branches currently housed in separate locations on the ERDC compound. This project is to relocate all branches within the EL to a single building. Personnel will be housed in the new building that will be developed to promote organizational unity, mission congruence, and esprit de corps. The new construction is to be state of the art, cutting edge technology, with a positive first impression of the facility. The facility should communicate that this is a top Research & Development (R & D) facility at this location in a way that promotes group identity and pride, complements recruitment and supports staff retention. To accomplish this, the building shall be designed and constructed so that the building facilitates and encourages interaction among all EL personnel, and provides equal access by personnel in all of the departments. The project shall be designed with the intent of maximizing the use of sustainable design and development practices. The Design-Build contractor shall adhere to green building rating standards of the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) to achieve GOLD certification as defined by USGBC. A LEED Accredited Professional will be a mandatory team member. An ultimate goal is to submit the new building for environmental awards at the Army level or higher. The building shall be classified as a Primary Gathering Building. If the conventional construction stand-off distances, as defined by US Army standards, are provided, conventional construction may be used for the building without a specific analysis of blast effects. Plans and Specifications will be available on the Federal Business Opportunities (FBO) Web Page at http://www.fedbizopps.gov/. Offerors may register on the Interested Vendors List (IVL) at http://www.2fbo.gov/ and retrieve an IVL from the same location. All technical inquiries and questions relating to W912EE-09-R-0001 are to be submitted via Bidder Inquiry in ProjNet at http://www.projnet.org/projnet. Compact disc and hardcopies will not be available. Offerors should check often for changes (Amendments). Issue date on or about November 10, 2008. Phase I of the Request for Proposal Due on or about December 11, 2008. The due date for Phase II of the Request for Proposal will be determined after evaluation/selections have been made for Phase I. FUNDS ARE NOT PRESENTLY AVAILABLE FOR THIS ACQUISITION. NO CONTRACT AWARD WILL BE MADE UNTIL APPROPRIATED FUNDS ARE MADE AVAILABLE.
