Hillsborough County evaluation committee ranks 14 firms for Mislangus Park architectural services; Heffner Architects tops list

Hillsborough County’s evaluation committee completed consensus scoring of 14 proposals for architectural and engineering services for the Mislangus Park solicitation and announced final rankings, with Heffner Architects receiving the top score of 104 points. The committee read its final scores and advised interested parties to monitor Bonfire for future updates about the solicitation.

The committee met to evaluate submissions received on 02/07/2025 and scored each firm by consensus against the solicitation’s published criteria, including the ability of the firm and its professional personnel, experience with projects of similar size and type, willingness and ability to meet schedule and budget requirements, and recent/current/projected workload. Connor Fletcher, senior buyer, opened the meeting and noted that 14 submissions had been received; he also said the recording would be made available after the meeting.

Committee members — including Samantha Phillips (project manager, Conservation Environmental Lands), Jason McKenzie (park planner and development manager, Parks and Recreation) and Vincent Kulkarni (architect, Capital Programs) — discussed reference checks, subs and local presence for firms as part of their scoring. The review also applied economic development bonus points and past-performance points where the solicitation allowed. Throughout the session the committee verbally reconciled individual preliminary scores into final consensus numbers for each criterion and for the overall total.

At the close of the evaluation the committee read the final ranked scores as follows (as announced during the meeting): Rank 1 — Heffner Architects, 104 points; Rank 2 — Wanda, 100 points; Rank 3 — Harvard John, 98 points; Rank 4 — Olson La Hoy and Wilder Architecture, 96 points; Rank 5 — CPH consultant, 95 points; Rank 7 — pledge under CFO, 94 points; Rank 8 — WTI, 93 points; Rank 9 — Bosborn Engineering and Goodwin Mills Cable, 92 points; Rank 11 — Law and Associates, 90 points; Rank 12 — Colliers Engineering and Design, 88 points; Rank 13 — Globetrotters Engineering Corporation, 81 points; Rank 14 — Plus LLC, 77 points. The committee concluded the evaluation and directed participants to monitor the Bonfire portal for subsequent procurement steps and notifications.

The meeting record shows the committee paused for a break before resuming to consider the remaining proposals; reference checks were noted as completed for multiple firms. No formal motion, vote, or contract award was recorded at the meeting — the session produced consensus rankings and a recommendation to proceed with the procurement process in accordance with the solicitation and County procedures.

Next steps stated by the committee: publication of the committee’s results on the Bonfire procurement portal and any subsequent selection or negotiations to follow the solicitation’s procurement rules.