Housing authority approves up to $1.12 million painting contract for Plaza East apartments

The Housing Authority of the City and County of San Francisco voted to authorize its chief executive officer to enter a contract with Glenn's Home and Commercial Inc. for exterior painting and related repairs at the Plaza East Apartments for a not-to-exceed (NTE) amount of $1,118,000.

The resolution approved by the commission covers exterior painting of 22 residential buildings at the Plaza East site, including doors and trim, stucco repairs and vents. The NTE figure includes a 15% owner contingency of $150,000. The contract term was described in the staff presentation as six months, with on-site painting work planned to be completed in roughly three months once work begins.

Housing Authority staff told commissioners the item is funded through a previously approved capital grant agreement. Staff said an independent cost estimate for the exterior work was roughly $1.3 million; nine proposals were received in response to the invitation for bids, and the lowest responsive, responsible bidder reported a proposal of about $968,000. Per staff, the authority performed a cost-comparison against its independent estimate before recommending the award.

Staff described the procurement timeline during the presentation: the solicitation was issued July 3, with two pre-proposal conferences and a deadline for questions on July 17. The bid deadline was extended and proposals were opened on July 31. Staff said they expect to execute the contract around Aug. 15 (the presentation noted a typographical error in an earlier slide). The recommended award went to Glenn's Home and Commercial Inc., identified in staff materials as the lowest responsible and responsive bidder.

Commissioners and staff discussed tenant engagement, project monitoring and cost controls. Staff said a community liaison group of three residents was consulted on building- and door-color options and that the authority has narrowed the palette to five approved hues; residents will be given choices for their specific door color when work is sequenced. "I do not wanna walk outside every day and look at this canary yellow," a Housing Authority staff member said, describing feedback heard from that resident group.

On oversight, staff described multiple checks: a consultant engaged for capital improvements, daily site inspections by in-house staff, weekly project meetings, reference checks for the selected vendor, and a punch-walk inspection before progress payments are released. Mariano Veil Torre, described by staff as part of the authority's operations team, was identified as a staff point of contact who participates in inspections and contractor oversight.

The commission approved the consent agenda and then voted to adopt the resolution for the Plaza East painting contract. Recorded voting in the meeting transcript shows affirmative votes from the commissioners present; the motion passed.

Staff said work will be sequenced across the site and that change orders will follow the authority's change-order approval process if unforeseen scope items arise. The authority built a 15% contingency into the NTE amount to cover such potential changes. If the contractor's work requires additional funds beyond the contingency, staff said change orders would be reviewed and require the appropriate approvals per procurement rules.

The contract award follows a January 2025 board action (resolution number 425) that approved a capital grant of $2.6 million to the owner of Plaza East for capital improvements and repairs; staff said the exterior painting is one of three initiatives at the site split across that capital program. Staff estimated the total exterior work scope covers about 100,000 square feet across the 22 buildings and said that the chosen bid was within a reasonable range given comparable Bay Area projects and the authority's specifications for primer, paint and workmanship quality.

Next steps, as described by staff: finalize and execute the contract, sequence the work with resident notification and color selection, begin on-site work under consultant and in-house inspection, and perform punch-walks before releasing payments. The authority told commissioners it expects the contractor to begin mobilization soon after contract execution and complete the on-site painting within the months described in the presentation.