Sally E. Bahner Photo
Public Building Commission
A. Secondino & Son Inc., a well-known Branford-based construction company, was the low bidder for the $12.1 million renovation of the Community House/Senior Center.
Tom Arcari, principal of Quisenberry Arcari Architects LLC, explained the details to the Public Building Commission at its meeting Wednesday night at Fire Headquarters.
Secondino along with Charles E. Weber, Jr., a Branford developer, were last in the news in connection with the Costco project. They own 16.5 acres of land where six commercial buildings had been slated for construction had the Costco project off Exit 56 gone forward. Their property is near the 22 acres owned by Wayne Cooke and the Cooke family, property Costco had sought for its warehouse store. Costco withdrew from the project last year.
Secondino Is Low Bidder
Secondino’s bid came in at $10.4 million; the next highest bid was from Enfield Builders at $11.5 million. The Secondino company, one of the oldest in the state, provides general contracting and building services for both private and public projects. The company began life in 1895 and has long been a family enterprise.
Commission chair Peter Banca said members will review the documents and have feedback ready for the Sept. 11 meeting when a formal vote will be taken.
“We’ll reconvene to continue the deliberation and look at the numbers further… then we’ll take action, whatever that may be,” said Commission chair Peter Banca.
Cost of the Community House/Senior Center is budgeted at $9.5 million for “hard costs,” i.e. brick and mortar and materials, plus $2.5 million for “soft costs,” such as architectural and legal fees, advertising, and furnishings. Arcari explained that soft costs may take up 15 percent to 40 percent of the total budget.
Secondino Willing to Cut his Profit
Sally E. Bahner Photo
Arcari (pictured) said that Secondino was eager for the job and was willing to cut its profit to 2 percent (typical profit is 4 percent to 5 percent). An added benefit is that Secondino “self-executes” a lot of the work – they use their own staff and machinery rather than subcontracting.
However, because the bid exceeds the appropriation, value engineering (a way of restructuring costs) will be needed to restructure some costs in the amount of about $500,000. Some soft costs (such as moving expenses) can be transferred to the hard costs.
Arcari said that is already being investigated: switching the manufacturer brand for the HVAC system and adjusting the use of glass specified in the lower level activity room.
The construction documents and value engineering list will be made available to commission members by the end of the week, Arcari said, and a schedule is forthcoming. Budget reconciliations will also be provided.
He said he needs members’ input as soon as possible to maintain the Oct. 1 construction start date. The project is expected to take a year.
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