By Brian Biggane
The South Palm Beach Town Council is closer than ever before to choosing both an architect/builder and an owner’s representative for the much-anticipated new Town Hall.
The council determined in December that it would interview candidates for the combined build and design position at a special meeting at 12:30 p.m. Jan. 16, with a decision to follow. Each candidate will have 30 minutes to make a presentation.
Town Manager Jamie Titcomb posted invitations in mid-November and reported he had received four responses for the architect position and five for owner’s rep. No meeting was yet set up to interview the candidates for owner’s rep.
The town has determined the building will be constructed with SIPs (structural integrated panels), which consist of an insulating foam sandwiched between two structural facings, which can be fabricated to fit nearly any building design.
A look at the bidders:
Build and design
Alexis Knight Architects: Owned and operated by Steven W. Knight, the firm has provided architectural design for 45 years, including 28 years in Florida and the last 12 in Boynton Beach and West Palm Beach.
Its previous work in the same area includes the new town hall and community center for the Village of Wellington, the South Florida Water Management District Headquarters, the Palm Beach Sheriff’s Office vehicle maintenance facility, and a Tamarac fire station.
CPZ Architects Inc.: With four offices in South Florida including one in West Palm Beach, CPZ is led by architect Chris Zimmerman, who has 38 years of experience in the field, and Joseph Barry, who has 25.
The company’s résumé includes fire stations in West Palm Beach, Fort Lauderdale and Hollywood, the public safety complex in Coral Springs, and the Meridian Professional Building in Plantation. The company has an extensive history with SIPs, including an apartment complex in Sebring and duplexes in Okeechobee.
Moonlight Architecture: Based in Ohio, the firm boasts that its staff has “positioned ourselves as experts in the utilization of SIPs and associated components.” Its founder and principal architect is Andrew Roehl, and the company employs Erik Scheuermann. He is based in Fort Lauderdale, made a presentation to the council regarding SIPs this past fall and would serve as the architect’s representative.
Moonlight has been in business only since 2018, but in that time has been involved in more than 70 SIP projects, both residential and commercial.
PGAL: Led by former Greenacres mayor and principal architect Sam Ferreri, PGAL has 77 offices across the country, including one in Boca Raton that has existed for 27 years. It has worked at all levels of government: local, regional, state and federal.
PGAL has been involved in the construction of 13 municipal buildings in Florida since 2001, including the Boca Raton Downtown Library and the city’s police and fire training center; and the Greenacres City Hall, public works complex and fire station.
It is also scheduled to complete work on fire stations in Delray Beach and Stuart this year.
Owner’s representative
Colliers: With 25 years of experience and 120 technical professionals available, the firm headed by Senior Director Ken Guyette bid just under $300,000 to manage the project.
Its past projects include the Phillip and Patricia Frost Museum and the Met 2 office tower in Miami, an Amazon warehouse in Opa Locka and the Jeld-Wen global headquarters in Charlotte, North Carolina. It is also involved in more than $100 million in ongoing construction.
Gardiner & Theobald: Established in 1835 in London, the firm better known as G&T opened its New York City office in 1992 and a Miami office in 2010. Its proposal states it is “the leading project and cost manager in the United States with over $35 billion currently under management.”
The company has worked extensively in the area. Its credits include the recent renovations at Norton Museum of Art in West Palm Beach and the Society of the Four Arts in Palm Beach. Its Town Hall project bid is $209,000.
Guaranteed Community Advisors: Led by founder and CEO Andrew Bittner, the Ohio-based firm has recently rebranded from Guaranteed Clean Energy as a means of broadening its scope.
The company, which filed paperwork to operate in Florida only this past November, has completed a number of school lighting projects in Ohio and Michigan. No proposed price tag came with this offer.
J. Kelly Advisors: Led by President Jessica Browdy, the Boca Raton-based firm came under criticism at the December meeting from Vice Mayor Bill LeRoy, who said it should be excluded due to its proposed project price of $1 million.
In business since 2015, the firm has worked on projects totaling more than $1 billion, $458 million of which is involved in ongoing construction. Its projects include renovation of Pine Crest School in Boca Raton, YMCA of South Florida in Miami, and office buildings in Fort Lauderdale and Davie.
NV5 Inc.: Taking a different tack, the Hollywood-based firm offers fixed fees of $12,200 per month during the pre-construction phase and $15,500 during construction. Its gross revenues were $786.8 million in 2022 compared to $706.7 million in 2021, an 11% increase.
The firm offers its experience individually rather than collectively. Project manager Joe Gaudet’s résumé includes Palm Beach County golf venues such as Admirals Cove and Jonathan’s Landing in Jupiter, and Addison Reserve Country Club in Delray Beach.
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