City Rejects Sole Bid to Retrofit Public Works Building As Too Expensive, Will Restart Process

The City of Pasadena has rejected the sole bid to retrofit the City Yards Public Works Building and will re-advertise the project for bid proposals.

The bid, submitted by PCN3 of Los Alamitos, was 263 percent higher than the City Engineer’s estimate of $1,500,000. A City analysis attributed the discrepancy to a lack of understanding regarding the intended project scope.

The Department of Public Works will review and modify the current plans and specifications to provide clarification of the project scope as well as change the mandatory pre-bid walk to non-mandatory to encourage a greater number of bids. 

The Department of Public Works will then re-advertise the project for bid proposals.

The seismic retrofit of the City Yards Public Works Building is a critical project that will help to ensure the safety of the building and its occupants in the event of an earthquake. The project includes the installation of new shear walls, reinforced concrete columns and beams, and other seismic upgrades.

The scope of the seismic retrofit includes removing finishes along the perimeter of the interior roof and floor to expose wall connections and retrofit as necessary; installing additional anchor bolts to tie the roof and floor diaphragms to the tilt-up wall panels; reinforcing/strengthening diaphragm ties/chord and boundary elements; and providing additional seismic bracing to critical rooftop HVAC components and strengthening of its supporting roof framing.

Additionally, there are various architectural renovations to the second-floor kitchen, first-floor breakroom, and parking lot for ADA improvements and associated re-roofing and carpentry as a result of retrofit work.

This project is funded by Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP) funds and American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds.

The re-advertisement of the project is expected to take place in the next few weeks.