Mooresville board awards $251,030 preconstruction contract to Balfour Beatty for downtown parking deck design

The Town of Mooresville on Jan. 21 approved a contract not to exceed $251,030 with Balfour Beatty to carry out preconstruction schematic design for a proposed parking deck on the 100 block of North Church Street. The design-build procurement is intended to produce a phased project that includes underground utilities, streetscape improvements, surface parking integration and a parking management strategy.

Why it matters: downtown officials have sought a multi-decade solution to long-standing surface-parking shortages. A design-build approach selects a combined contractor-designer team up front and is intended to speed delivery and improve constructability.

What the contract covers - Phase 1 preconstruction work (the contract approved by the board) is schematic design, data collection (topographic, geotechnical and environmental investigations), stakeholder engagement, and 50% design documents across disciplines needed to establish a realistic budget and constructability review. - The town’s RFQ called for a full design-build team; the evaluation committee unanimously recommended Balfour Beatty with Little Architecture, McAdams, Davenport and Walker as key consultants. - The broader project scope (to be advanced in later phases if the town pursues them) includes the parking structure itself, associated surface lot work, streetscape elements identified in the downtown master plan and an integrated parking management strategy.

Town staff emphasized that the Phase 1 contract is standalone and does not obligate the town to future phases. Ashley Walker, project lead in the engineering presentation, said the first phase “is really the schematic design and the programming” and is intended to provide a stronger basis for budgeting and permitting.

Board action The resolution awarding the Phase 1 contract to Balfour Beatty passed on a motion by Commissioner DeWeese, seconded by Commissioner DeRosa. The board also adopted associated budget ordinances and a project ordinance establishing the project record for the design work.

Next steps If schematic design advances satisfactorily and the town approves subsequent phases, the project would move to full design, permitting and ultimately construction on a guaranteed maximum price. The parking consultant on the team will provide options and costs for management strategies such as paid parking, permit systems or other approaches to allocate spaces and minimize all-day employee parking in retail zones.

Speakers - Ashley Walker, Engineering (project presentation) - Walker Consultants (parking consultant; team member referenced)

Authorities - Downtown master plan (2009) referenced as the planning framework for a parking structure in the 100 block of North Church Street (referenced_by:["parking_deck_contract"])

Actions - Kind: contract_award; identifiers:{agenda_item_id:"8C",contract_number:"25-380",project_slug:"100-n-church-parking"}; motion:"Adopt a resolution awarding a contract in an amount not to exceed $251,030 to Balfour Beatty for Phase 1 preconstruction services for a design-build parking structure at 100 North Church Street and adopt ordinances approving associated budget amendments."; mover:"Commissioner DeWeese"; second:"Commissioner DeRosa"; tally:{yes:5,no:0,abstain:0,absent:1}; outcome:"approved"; notes:"Phase 1 schematic design only; stand-alone contract with no obligation for future phases."

Clarifying details - contract_amount_usd:251030 (units: USD; detail:"Phase 1 preconstruction schematic design and investigative work") - parcels_in_site_count:14 (detail:"Town owns multiple adjacent parcels that comprise the site; master planning includes privately owned parcel between town parcels and Main Street")

Proper_names [{"name":"Balfour Beatty","type":"business"},{"name":"Walker Consultants","type":"business"},{"name":"100 North Church Street","type":"location"},{"name":"Mooresville Downtown Master Plan","type":"policy"}]

Community_relevance - geographies:["Downtown Mooresville"],impact_groups:["local businesses","downtown visitors","commuters"]

Meeting_context - engagement_level:{speakers_count:6,duration_minutes:30,items_count:1},implementation_risk:"low-to-medium","history":[{"date":"2009","note":"Downtown master plan identified this block for potential parking structure."}]

Searchable_tags:["parking deck","design-build","Balfour Beatty","downtown"]

salience:{overall:0.62,overall_justification:"Significant downtown infrastructure project with multi-phase procurement and budget implications.",impact_scope:"local","attention_level":"medium"}} ,{