Vineyard RDA delays vote on $1.5 million architectural contract for proposed Vineyard Center

The Vineyard Redevelopment Agency on Jan. 29 heard a recommendation to award Method Studio the contract for architectural and planning services for the proposed Vineyard Center, but the board voted to postpone a final decision until the next meeting so members can review updated financial analysis.

Josh, the RDA director, presented the item and described the fee proposal: “This particular expense ... was envisioned as an expense from the RDA capital projects fund. So it'll be a million dollars from the capital project fund.” He said the full contract for planning and architectural work would be “not to exceed 1,500,000.0,” and that Mountainland Association of Governments (MAG) would contribute about $500,000 because MAG plans to occupy a significant portion of the multipurpose building.

Why it matters: the Vineyard Center is planned as a downtown multipurpose civic and commercial building on Lot 10A (Block 10) of the new promenade area. Staff said the design award is the next step to produce drawings and cost estimates that will be used to refine…