I. Request for Proposals

The Downtown Development Authority (DDA) of the City of Springfield is requesting development proposals from parties interested in partnering with the DDA for redevelopment of the property located at 712 N. Laurel Street. All respondents to the Request for Proposals (RFP) are subject to the instructions communicated in this document and are cautioned to completely review the entire RFP and follow instructions carefully.

The information contained in this RFP is the DDA’s best understanding of its current needs and approach on how to address them, but they remain open to creative and beneficial alternatives to the project described herein. If the proposal suggests an alternative way to achieve the goals stated here, it should be clearly stated, and it will be duly considered.

This RFP does not commit the DDA to procure or award a contract for work, enter into agreement, or to compensate those responding for proposal preparation expense. All costs to prepare a response to this RFP shall be borne by the respondents. The DDA reserves the right to reject any or all proposals, waive technicalities and/or informalities and make the award in the best interest of the project. Both parties also reserve the right to cancel, modify, supplement, add to, delete from or change any part or aspect of this project if it is believed to be in the best interest of the DDA.

The DDA is an equal opportunity employer. The DDA endeavors to do business with developer(s) and individual(s) sharing its commitment to equal opportunity employment and will not do business with any of those responding that discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, ancestry, age, gender, sexual orientation, disability, medical condition or place of birth.

II. Project Overview

Those responding must be licensed to do business in the state of Georgia and will be responsible for providing the DDA with a development plan for the property located at 712 N. Laurel Street as well as a business plan if they plan to be the occupant. The DDA has listed below possible respondents and possible items to be included in the response to this RFP, but does not wish to limit or exclude those that may have other ideas or options for redevelopment of the property.

The DDA is seeking input and ideas from those willing to work with the DDA on rehabilitation of this property. Respondents are encouraged to be creative and propose to the DDA a plan that will benefit all parties involved and become a positive impact on downtown.

Project Goal: The project must convey a plan for the property that will help to not only rehabilitate a vacant structure downtown into a productive and vibrant use, but that will be complimentary to existing businesses and fit into the City of Springfield’s redevelopment goals for the entire downtown district.

The following are encouraged to respond:

Developers that can partner with the DDA in rehabilitation of the property
Tenants that would lease the space for their existing or future businesses

Proposals could include, but should not be limited to the following information:

Explanation of the positive impacts your proposal will have on downtown.
Description of the funding necessary and sources required to realize the project.
Description of how the project will be complimentary to existing business.
Explanation of how the proposed project will fit into the City of Springfield’s redevelopment of the Downtown District.
Outline of timeline for beginning and completing the project.
Clear description of the use of both the building and the adjacent lot.
Business plan if respondent is to be the tenant or to sublease the property.

III. RFP Schedule

Schedule	Dates & Times
Optional Pre-Submittal Conference and Site Visit	Friday June 12, 2020 2:00pm
Deadline for submission of questions and clarification requests	Friday, June 19, 2020 2:00pm
Deadline for submission of Proposal	Friday, July 10, 2020 12:00pm
DDA Board review of proposals	Monday, July 13, 2020 DDA Workshop

Pre-Submittal Conference

A pre-submittal conference will be held on June 12^th at 2:00pm. at the Springfield City Hall, 130 S. Laurel Street, Springfield, GA, followed by a site visit of the Property 712 N. Laurel. At this meeting, the DDA representatives will discuss the scope of the project, general issues and respond to any general questions from the attendees. The DDA Board and/or representative(s) will not be available for additional meetings or able to respond to individual inquiries regarding the project scope outside of this conference. This conference is not mandatory, however, all interested parties are encouraged to attend.

Questions and Clarification

Any questions that may arise from this invitation shall be submitted in writing to DDA representative, Erin Phillips, City of Springfield, at P.O. Box 1 Springfield, GA 31329 or by email at [email protected]. Members of the respondents team, their agents, lobbyists, attorneys or any others shall not contact DDA officials or representative(s) other than the contact person specified above regarding this project or process. Any such contact shall be grounds for automatic disqualification. No interpretation or clarification of the meaning of the instructions or scope of services will be made orally. It shall be the respondent’s responsibility to seek clarification as early as possible prior to the deadline stipulated above of June 19^th.

Any questions received in compliance with the above schedule shall be answered in writing in a timely manner. Any discussions or documents pertaining to questions asked will be considered non-binding unless incorporated and promulgated in an addendum. Any clarifications and/or supplemental instructions will be posted on the DDA website www.DDASpringfieldGA.com. Respondents should periodically check the website for updates to this RFP.

IV. RFP Submittals

It is the sole responsibility of the respondent to assure delivery of the RFP to the DDA’s representative stated above; the DDA cannot accept responsibility for incorrect delivery, regardless of the reason. No RFP submittals will be accepted after the deadline. RFP submittals will not be accepted via facsimile or email. It is the responsibility of the respondent to examine this entire request, seek clarification in writing, and review their RFP for accuracy prior to submittal. Once the deadline has passed, all submittals will be final. The DDA reserves the right to request additional data, information or clarification pertinent to this solicitation after the submittal date, provided that such information is relevant to the evaluation of the respondent’s proposal or qualifications relevant to the respondents ability to administer the proposal as indicated. However, the DDA shall not be required to request missing information from the submittal which would cause the proposal to be considered incomplete.

All information submitted in response to this RFP shall become the property of the DDA, and as such, may be subject to public review as public record. However, all proposals will be held in confidence until award.

RFP submittals must meet the requirements of this section to be considered. Partial or incomplete responses will not be considered. Respondents are required to follow the format specified in the section below.

Proposal Submittal Format

The Proposal must demonstrate specific expertise in the elements of project described herein. RFP should be bound with the name of the respondent and/or respondents’ company and the project name visible on the outside cover. To allow the selection committee sufficient time to properly review all documents in their entirety, each proposal shall be limited to 3 pages. The Title Page, Table of Contents, Letter of Transmittal, Section Dividers and Resumes will not count against the page limits.

Proposals shall include the following:

SECTION 1 ‐ IDENTIFICATION OF RESPONDENT The Proposal shall include the name, office location(s), mailing address, email address and phone numbers for Respondent, Company, and any staff or partners that are proposed to be involved in the project.

SECTION 2 – PROJECT OVERVIEW AND APPROACH The Proposal shall demonstrate the Respondent’s understanding of the Project and include a statement acknowledging the “Project Overview” on Page 1 of this RFP. The Respondent is encouraged to provide comments and enhancements to this overview if they can provide reasoning showing a benefit to all parties involved. The Proposal shall include a thorough explanation of how the respondent will accomplish the DDA’s goals for this property as stated. The Respondent shall also explain how progress updates, memos, and meetings will be used to remain in contact with the DDA as the project is being executed if awarded. Emphasis should be placed on how the Respondent’s approach will promote the project’s success and that of the downtown district.

SECTION 3 ‐ MANAGEMENT APPROACH The Proposal shall include a discussion regarding the Respondent’s management approach, including coordination and monitoring of project tasks, cost, risk, scope, team members, communications, quality, resources, and other management issues that the Respondent feels should be addressed. Emphasis should be placed on how the Respondent’s management approach will promote the Project’s success.

SECTION 4 – STAFF QUALIFICATIONS The Proposal shall indicate the role of each person to be involved in seeing the project to completion. Each position needed and the corresponding responsibilities should be indicated. The person designated to oversee the project and communicate with the DDA should be identified. Special emphasis shall be provided on the individual’s backgrounds, qualifications, certifications, experience on related and/or similar projects. Respondent or staff affiliation, and professional licenses or certifications, including discipline and state of licensure, shall be designated for each individual. Full resumes sorted first by Respondent, then by last name, shall be included as an appendix to the Proposal. Resumes shall be limited to one (1) page each. If the Respondent will not employ staff for this project, the Respondent may provide the above-mentioned qualifications in this section for themselves only. Please include references in this section if pertinent.

SECTION 5 ‐ RELATED PROJECT EXPERIENCE The Proposal shall include profiles of similar projects that the Respondent and any proposed team members have worked on in the last eight (8) years including project summary, date, description, location, and client reference including phone number. The Respondent’s role and responsibilities in each project should also be described.

SECTION 6 ‐ PROJECT SCHEDULE The Respondent shall prepare a schedule, showing all major project tasks, milestones, and deliverables required to complete the project.

Proposal Submittal Instructions

Submit one (1) bound copy no later than Friday, July 10^th at 12:00 p.m. to the attention below:

City of Springfield

Attn: Erin Phillips

130 S. Laurel Street

Post Office Box 1

Springfield, GA 31329

V. Proposal Evaluation and Award

The DDA will review and evaluate proposals based on the following factors:

Qualifications of Respondent and Personnel (25 Points)

Respondent experience on similar projects.
1. Qualifications, experience, and responsibilities of the key personnel identified to assist in the project.
1. Experience and successful project delivery history of respondent and personnel in similar projects.

Project Approach and Understanding (25 Points)

Suggested approach and understanding of the project.
Innovative suggestions and identifying challenges
Approach to communication with the DDA and the public to facilitate successful delivery of the project.
Respondents description of their experience with and knowledge of all jurisdictional regulations that will be applicable to this project.

Capacity and Capability of Respondent (25 Points)

Respondents demonstrated ability to meet schedule and budget requirements in past projects.
1. Proposed schedule to perform the work with sufficient detail to understand the timing and completion of the project.
1. Present and projected workloads
1. Potential to effectively replace key personnel, if necessary.

Overall Quality of Proposal (25 Points)

The organization, structure and quality of the proposal will be factored into the scoring criteria.

The evaluation scoring summary is outlined below.

Evaluation Criteria Maximum Points

Qualifications of Respondent and Personnel	25
Project Approach and Understanding	25
Capacity and Capability of Respondent	25
Overall Quality of Proposal	25

Selection Process

Proposals will be evaluated based on the written response to the criteria listed. After receipt and review of proposals, the DDA may elect to conduct interviews for some or all respondents.

It is anticipated that the DDA will enter into agreement for the development of the property at 712 N. Laurel Street with a respondent that, in the opinion of the DDA, offers the most favorable combination of qualifications, building use, approach and budget.

Project Selection