Almaden Resident

News

Community center hits snag with only one bid

Hoffman project delayed at least another four months

By Monica Heger

The road to a completed community center in Almaden Valley's Hoffman/Via Monte neighborhood has been long and bumpy, and the next roadblock is a lack of bidders for the project.

At the May 9 San Jose City Council meeting, the council, which also sits as the board of the redevelopment agency, voted to reject the one bid that was submitted.

"We only got one bid, and it came at double our budget," said Daniella Polar, community relations coordinator in Councilwoman Nancy Pyle's office.

The bid for approximately $1.4 million was by Design Space Modular Buildings Inc. The original estimate by the architect was $650,000.

Bill Ekern from the redevelopment agency said there were two main reasons for both the budget discrepancy and lack of bidders: Some design elements of the center make it more difficult, and issues with the site that add to the uncertainty of the cost.

"Contractors don't like uncertainty," Ekern said.

The proposed project is a modular building, meaning it is prefabricated. Usually that would not make the project more complicated. Ekern said a year ago the redevelopment agency had two modular units delivered, and it wasn't a problem.

"Going forward, we weren't getting any inklings of delay," Ekern said.

However, the property is owned by the Almaden United Methodist Church, and it wanted the community center to fit in with the church and other buildings on the property.

That poses a problem because the type of roof that fits in with the other buildings is not a typical design for modular units. So the roof would have to be specially ordered, adding to the uncertainty of the cost.

Pastor Carole Vincent , said the church is willing to work with the city to make sure the project goes forward.

"We are eager to see it happen, and we are looking forward to working with the city and the neighborhood," Vincent said.

Aside from the issues with the building design, there are uncertain costs for off-site improvements. There are underground communication and power lines that will have to be dealt with, and the project will require the construction of a new sewer lateral--the pipe that connects the center's plumbing to the city sewer system.

"It's another complicated thing that contractors look at as being more trouble than it's worth," Ekern said.

Property owner Roger Grossenbacher said ever since the construction was delayed the first time because of the power and communication lines, it's just been one thing after another.

"When they found out they were going to have to go over communication and power lines, it opened up a can of worms, and from there it just went south," Grossenbacher said.

Ekern said the agency is trying to find ways either to change the design or split up the bid to bring the cost down. One idea is putting out two separate bids, one for the construction of the center and one for off-site improvements.

Ekern expects bids will be opened up again in August or September, and once approved, the project will take about six months. The project was originally slated for completion in this spring.

When the center is complete, the city will lease the property from the church to operate the center.