In 2001, the Bureau of the Public Debt (BPD) requested expansion office space in Parkersburg, WV, to accommodate the growing needs of its Administrative Resource Center (ARC). Separate from BPD’s primary function of financing and accounting for the public debt, the ARC provides accounting, human resources, facilities, and technology services to other Federal agencies. In order to better serve its customers and promote internal operational efficiencies, the BPD asked GSA to deliver approximately 150,000 square feet of new office space. This new office space would not only afford BPD the ability to consolidate their operations, but also collocate approximately 400 employees currently housed in several leased locations throughout Parkersburg.
GSA and BPD agreed to incorporate the provision of a stipend into the lease procurement, in an effort to attract high quality architectural firms to the project and to introduce them to real estate developers. Stipends assist the bidding architectural firms defray the costs of developing their design submission. While stipends had been used successfully in the past for the design and construction of Federally owned buildings, this was the first time that GSA had used a stipend for a leased construction project.
The procurement was divided into two phases. The first phase gauged the technical aspects of the developer’s submission. This process narrowed the potential bidders down to four, who split $30,000 to defray their design costs. The second phase of the procurement evaluated building configuration, exterior design, interior design, expansion plan, and building systems.
Building upon the success of GSA’s Design Excellence Program to improve Federal architecture and building high quality Federally owned structures, several years ago GSA took the next step, and applied Design Excellence to the leasing program.
For more information, contact Ms. Abigail Smith at (215) 446-4585 or via e-mail at abby.smith@gsa.gov
