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Delray Beach CRA cancels RFQ for Northwest 800 block, reissues broadened solicitation and adds two lots; one commissioner votes no on reissue
Summary
CRA staff recommended canceling RFQ CRA-2020404 after two proposals failed to meet qualification requirements. The board rejected the remaining proposal, canceled the RFQ and approved issuing a new RFQ (202501) with expanded design-build qualifications and two additional parcels; Vice Chair Burns voted no on the reissue.
Christine (city/CRA staff) summarized an RFQ review on Jan. 28 and told the board that three proposals were submitted for a progressive design-build project on the Northwest 800 block of West Atlantic Avenue but two did not conform to the RFQ requirement that proposers be licensed, registered and practicing architectural firms.
Staff recommended canceling RFQ CRA-2020404 and reissuing a new RFQ with expanded qualifications to allow: design-build service firms licensed and registered to provide architectural services; licensed and registered general contractors; or property-development teams that list qualified team members. Staff also said the CRA closed on two additional vacant lots on Northwest Ninth Avenue that were not in the original solicitation and asked that those parcels be included in the revised scope.
Board action and votes: the CRA first voted to reject the remaining proposal (the only one staff had not disqualified); the board then voted to cancel the existing RFQ. Both actions passed on recorded roll-call votes. The board then approved issuing a new RFQ (to be numbered 202501) that broadens project qualifications and includes the two newly acquired lots. That motion passed with four members voting yes and Vice Chair Burns voting no when the motion to issue the new RFQ was called.
Why it matters: the RFQ process will determine which teams can advance design, entitlement and construction for the 800-block redevelopment, a project the CRA has pitched as a modular-design activation of a currently vacant parcel on West Atlantic. The broadened qualifications allow more team structures to compete and will bring updated renderings and cost estimates for a modular or factory-built project that board members said must be visually compatible with surrounding streetscapes.
Program details and staff notes: staff said the original solicitation required a licensed architectural firm to lead the proposal; two of the three submissions were deemed nonconforming to that requirement. The proposed new RFQ will still seek full design-build services, including site plan, design and the pursuit of development approvals and any necessary text amendments to the city's land development regulations.
Renee Jadissing said staff will ask the agency's architect to produce updated renderings to clarify the visual character of the modular option before the RFQ reissue. Commissioners expressed differing views during the public discussion: some encouraged moving forward to get concrete proposals and cost information; others urged more community engagement and exploration of alternative uses such as a grocery store or larger commercial development across the street.
Ending: With the board's direction to reissue the RFQ with expanded qualifications and to include the two additional NW Ninth Avenue parcels, staff will prepare the revised solicitation and return to the board with updated renderings and the final RFQ document for issuance.
"The objective of the RFQ would remain: enter into agreement with a qualified entity to provide full-scale design-build services for the development of the Northwest 800 West Atlantic block," staff said during the presentation.
