Public Works awards engineering contract to Arup for SFPUC Millbrae campus project

The San Francisco Public Works Commission voted unanimously Feb. 13 to award a professional services contract to Arup US Inc. to provide integrated engineering services for the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC) Millbrae Campus Improvements Project.

Project manager Paul DeFreitas told the commission the contract is for roughly $9.63 million and covers services across a design and construction period of 2,920 calendar days (about eight years), with options that could extend the agreement to 3,650 days. The work will support design of a new two‑story, 66,000‑square‑foot mass‑timber laboratory and administration building, adaptive reuse of an existing retail/warehouse area for operations shops, extensive site infrastructure work including new PG&E feeds, and electrification and EV charging for the fleet.

DeFreitas said SFPUC is the project manager for the overall delivery and environmental clearance, while Public Works will serve as project architect and lead the integrated design team. The overall project budget presented for the campus is $428 million, with a construction budget of about $315 million.

Commissioners pressed staff for details on cost and schedule. Commissioner Paul Wolford noted the construction cost equates to roughly $2,000 per square foot for the lab building and asked staff to break that figure down at a future update. DeFreitas said the premium reflects specialized laboratory mechanical systems, essential‑facility seismic standards (comparable to hospitals or emergency facilities), on‑site power generation (including about 1 megawatt of solar), battery energy storage and backup generation, and mass‑timber premiums. He added that continued work with the construction manager (Clark Construction) and cost estimators during schematic design will yield a more itemized cost breakdown.

Several commissioners asked about the wellness pavilion included in the program. DeFreitas said the wellness facility was requested by the SFPUC client but that it is a secure, employee‑only campus because the site contains critical water‑supply infrastructure; he said program elements like the pavilion could be removed if costs become excessive.

DeFreitas told the commission Arup was the only responsive proposer at the end of the RFQ process and that the team had investigated why others declined; he said the contract duration and the specialized, long‑duration nature of the work limited interest, and that Arup can manage the needed range of specialty subcontractors. Commissioners and staff also discussed LBE participation and the city's process for handling nonresponsive bids and subcontractor substitution during procurement.

After questions, a commissioner moved approval and the commission voted unanimously to award the contract. The commission directed staff to post the resolution and return with a project update and cost‑per‑square‑foot breakdown in about a year.

Outcome: contract award approved; resolution to be posted on the Public Works Commission website.