February 14, 2011
02/15/11 Twelve companies interested in being the one to get the nod to construct the Community Resource Center submitted bids for the estimated $2.6 million project.
Nearly 2 years ago members of the T-squared Committee and Congressman Joe Donnelly announced USDA funding for the Center on the former site of the Fulton Marshall Co-op on West Jefferson Street. Since that time much work has been going on with funding but the public hasn’t seen any action taking place.
Thursday’s bid opening was the next step in the process and the majority of bidders were neck and neck. The apparent low bidder was Fetters Construction from Auburn at $2,565,000. The next lowest bidder was Michiana Contracting from Plymouth at $2,586,200 followed by Robert Henry Corp. at $2,630,000. The highest bid was from Casteel Construction at over $2.8 million.
Architect Brent Martin said, “The bids were so very very tight and close and that’s really good news.”
There were 11 alternate bids with 10 of them being prices of the suite build outs. The base bid is for what real estate people call a warm, lit, shell. The suite build out is the partitions, doors, finishes and so-forth within the suites.
This week B.A. Martin Architect, CBRE South Bend, and Attorney Jim Clevenger will be preparing the final paperwork that will be submitted to the USDA. Once reviewed and approved by the USDA the project will move forward to the construction phase which could be this spring.
The Community Resource Center will be two-stories with a full basement. The building has a structural steel frame with a brick exterior. There are presently 10 suites with the ability to add about 3 or 4 more depending on size.
Some of the tenants already committed to the project include Work One, WIC, Heart and Hands, The Housing Authority with Habitat for Humanity, Center Township Trustee and Real services.