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Request for Qualifications Zona Cultural Street Improvements – Conceptual and Streetscape Designs Scheduled Release Date, May 13, 2016

I. Background

In the fall of 2014, key stakeholders retained Centro San Antonio, a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit corporation,

to lead an effort to secure a State of Texas Cultural District Designation for Zona Cultural, a historic area

on downtown San Antonio’s near west side (Map – Exhibit I). With stakeholder support, Centro also

commissioned a firm with cultural district expertise to craft a revitalization plan for Zona Cultural. In

September of 2015, the Texas Commission on the Arts awarded the cultural district designation to Zona

Cultural and in March of this year, Centro presented the revitalization plan to City Council.

One key component of the plan called for leveraging planned public investments in and around Zona

Cultural, including the San Pedro Creek linear park project, the West Commerce Street improvement

project (a 2012 bond project) and the VIA’s Westside Multi-Modal Transit Center (Centro Plaza), to

secure even more investment in the public realm to spur economic development.

In addition to these planned and active projects, other planning efforts are underway in this area;

including street improvement projects currently in various stages of design on both the east and west

sides of the interstate (IH-10) that bisects Zona Cultural.

With a goal to unify the design concepts and to create a strong cultural identity for the public realm

within Zona Cultural, Centro San Antonio entered into discussions with the City of San Antonio and Zona

Cultural stakeholders about leading an effort to develop conceptual and streetscape designs for several

street segments as defined in this Request for Qualifications.

With their approval and commitments of financial support, Centro is issuing this Request for

Qualifications to identify a qualified urban planning and landscape design firm or team of firms with the

expertise and experience to successfully develop conceptual and streetscape designs for Zona Cultural.

A key element of this work will be gaining an understanding of and complementing the work currently

underway in and around the district.

It is expected that the conceptual and streetscape designs will incorporate elements of “Complete

Streets” or “Great Streets”: pedestrian friendly features and amenities such as wide sidewalks,

landscaping, and public gathering space; accommodations for multiple forms of transit; and aesthetic

elements that reflect the unique cultural heritage of the Zona Cultural.

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II. Scope of Services

The selected firm or firms will be expected to provide the following scope of services and deliverables

for the street segments defined below. Please describe in your response the approach you would use to

meet these requirements:

Defined Street Segments (Please see Map – Exhibit II) o Segment 1:

Commerce Street from Santa Rosa to S. Frio Santa Rosa from Houston Street to Cesar Chavez

o Segment 2: Cesar Chavez from Santa Rosa to Pecos Street Nueva from Santa Rosa to Pecos Street Houston Street from Santa Rosa to Pecos

o Segment 3: Cesar Chavez from Pecos to Frio Buena Vista from Pecos to Frio.

o Segment 4: Houston from Santa Rosa to San Pedro Creek Dolorosa from Santa Rosa to San Pedro Creek Commerce Streets from Santa Rosa to San Pedro Creek

o Segments 5 & 6: San Saba from Nueva to Houston Street San Saba from Houston Street to Martin

o Segment 7: Santa Rosa from Houston to Martin

A. Review of existing conditions, background studies/information and other design work

o Review and analyze base data, relevant planning and traffic documents, and other pertinent information, such as other projects in the area (San Pedro Creek, West Commerce Street, and others). Includes a review of the Zona Cultural Revitalization Plan.

o Create Base maps to provide the foundation for the Urban Design Plan.

o Conduct one or more site tours and individual and group stakeholder meetings to gather pertinent information to inform the design process

o Participate in prep and follow-up meetings/calls with designated Centro staff in advance of and following site tours and stakeholder meetings

o Section A Deliverable: Written summary of existing conditions, preliminary findings and proposed next

steps

B. Preliminary Visioning for Conceptual Designs

o Facilitate an Urban Design Charrette to gain stakeholder input on emerging concepts and streetscape design features and elements.

o Assist in development of an overall urban design framework and street concepts; plus concepts for public open spaces, vacant spaces and adjacent structures and buildings.

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o Section B Deliverable: Written summary outlining outcomes and describing the proposed design direction

C. Concept Plan o Overall Urban Design Plan drawing (draft and final versions) that encompasses streets and

connecting spaces (vacant lots, parking lots, and public spaces), and showcases ways to activate sidewalks and streets through public space, development, and streetscapes.

o Prototypical street sections for each identified street segment based on the charrette to be used for stakeholder discussion and as a basis for the layouts noted below

o Design concepts for key streetscape elements covering Intersection improvements, paving treatments, branded design concepts (wayfinding, vertical walls, kiosks, etc.), seating and gathering areas, artist interventions, and highway underpasses

o Presentations of Draft Concept Plans to Centro staff, stakeholders, City staff and incorporation as appropriate of feedback provided. Revisions and refinements will be used to produce a final plan document

o Section C Deliverable: Written Concept Plan Report with full layout and graphics and incorporating

information from previously submitted written reports

Photo simulations and illustrations for prototypical sections to showcase street character

D. Final Layout Plan - Deliverable o Design development and streetscape elements

o Section D Deliverables: Street layouts (CAD) and prototypical sections of study area streets developed to

approximately 20 to 25% schematic design.

Streetscape elements sketches and imagery, with blow-ups to indicate proposed materials, planned vegetation, relevant details

E. Cost estimate o An “order of magnitude” estimate of the cost of construction for the preferred design

concept.

F. Schedule: o Project scope must be completed and deliverables submitted no later than August 1, 2016

III. Team Composition

To accomplish this task, the team should include, at a minimum:

Urban Planner / Urban Designer

Landscape Architect / Architect

Civil engineer

Traffic engineer

Other consultants, as deemed necessary by the design team, may be included.

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Scoring of qualifications will be based on experience of individual firms and team firms on similar projects, demonstrated understanding of the concepts of “Complete Streets” design, experience of staff proposed for the project and capacity of the firms to meet the design schedule.

IV. Schedule of Events

The work must be completed by August 1, 2016. The following tentative schedule has been prepared

for this project:

Pre-Submittal Conference No pre-submittal conference will be held

Deadline for submission of written questions May 20, 2016

Responses due May 27, 2016

Interviews June 2, 2016

Contract execution June 6, 2016

Design completion August 1, 2016

V. Pre-Proposal Conference

There will be no pre-submittal conference

VI. Submittal Document Requirements

Respondent’s submittal shall include the following items in the following sequence noted below. Please

see Section X – Evaluation Criteria, for more detail on what information to include:

A. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY – Respondents shall include a one to two-page Executive Summary

highlighting the team’s qualifications and understanding of the goals of the Zona Cultural Street

Improvements Project and Scope of Work. The summary is to be signed by a person, or persons,

authorized to bind the entity or entities submitting the response. Submittals signed by a person

other than an officer of the company or partner of the firm must be accompanied by evidence

of authority.

B. STATEMENT OF QUALIFICATIONS – Provide information on a minimum of three (3) similar

projects performed by firms on the team in the last five to ten (5-10) years that demonstrate

their understanding and ability to deliver on the scope of services outlined in this RFQ; including

at least one completed and constructed project that features “Complete Streets” core elements.

C. TEAM ORGANIZATIONAL CHART – Show reporting relationships of firms with key staff and

location of the offices that will perform the work.

D. RESUMES – Resumes for each key team member, limited to no more than 1 page, shall

demonstrate experience with the type of work defined in this RFQ.

Respondent is expected to examine this RFQ carefully, understand the terms and conditions for

providing the services listed herein and respond completely. Failure to complete and provide any of the

above-referenced information may result in the respondent’s submittal being deemed non-responsive

and disqualified from consideration.

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VII. Amendments to RFQ

Changes or written responses to questions will be issued to Respondents as written addenda. No oral

statement of any person shall modify this RFQ.

VIII. Submission Instructions

Respondent shall submit one (1) original Qualification Statement, signed in ink, and six (6) printed copies as well as one (1) copy of the entire submittal in an Adobe PDF format flash drive, all packaged in a

sealed container clearly marked on the front of the package “RFQ: Zona Cultural Street Improvements – Conceptual and Streetscape Designs. All submittals must be received at the Centro San Antonio office, NO LATER THAN 3:00 PM ON Friday, May 27. Any submittal received after this time shall not be considered.

Mailing Address: Physical Address:

Centro San Antonio Centro San Antonio

110 Broadway, Suite 230 110 Broadway, Suite 230

San Antonio, TX 78205 San Antonio, TX 78205

Questions about deliveries only may be addressed to Priscilla Lopez at Centro San Antonio:

(plopez@downtownsa.org) 210-225-3862

Submittal length is limited to 15 pages, single-sided. Front and back covers, Table of Contents pages

and tabbed divider pages will not be counted if they do not contain submittal information. Three-ring

binders are not permitted; plastic spiral, or “comb” binding is recommended.

IX. Restriction on Communications

Once the RFQ has been released, Respondents are prohibited from communicating with Centro staff or

Board members regarding the RFQ or Submittals, with the following exceptions:

1. Respondents may submit written questions concerning this RFQ to Tony Piazzi until noon on

May 20, 2016. Questions received after the stated deadline will not be answered. All

questions shall be sent by electronic mail to apiazzi@downtownsa.org

X. Evaluation Criteria

Centro San Antonio will appoint a selection committee to perform the evaluation. The committee may

select all, some or none of the Respondents for interviews. If Centro elects to conduct interviews,

Respondents may be interviewed and rescored using the same criteria or other criteria to be

determined by the selection committee. Centro also may request additional information from

Respondents at any time prior to final approval of a selected Respondent. Centro reserves the right to

select one or more or none of the Respondents to provide services.

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A. Experience of the Design Team and Key Personnel (60%)

Organizational chart: Outline the team’s proposed organizational structure and the

availability of labor resources (capacity to perform) in executing the firm’s effort within the

limited schedule.

Narrative: Discuss the experience and qualifications of the team in providing the services

outlined in this RFQ. The team will be evaluated based on its experience in:

Landscape architecture and urban planning experience pertinent to multimodal

“Complete Street” design and urban “place-making”;

Civil Engineering experience in traffic engineering and roadway design

Project Sheets: Identify three (3) similar projects completed within the last five to ten (5-10)

years by firms on the design team. For each project, include a description of the project with

photographs of key features, project location, year of completion, the project’s construction

contract amount, role of the firm in the design of the project, name of the firm’s project

lead and the owner’s name and contact information. List key staff members who worked on

the project and the location of the firm’s office that managed the work.

B. Experience of Key Personnel (30%)

Proposed Key Personnel: Provide a detailed organizational chart identifying key personnel

who will be assigned to work on the project and their responsibilities. The team must

include:

At least one Landscape Architect, Architect and/or Urban Planner registered in Texas,

with a minimum of ten (10) years’ experience and substantial work with similar projects

At least one Professional Traffic Engineer and one Professional Civil Engineer registered in Texas, with a minimum of ten (10) years demonstrable experience on similar projects

Resumes: One-page resumes shall demonstrate the individual’s experience in providing

services as defined in the scope of work. List team member’s license type (if applicable) and

number of years licensed, number of years of applicable experience, number of years of

experience in proposed role, length of employment with his/her current employer and

location of his/her home office.

C. Team’s Experience in San Antonio Region and with City of San Antonio projects (10%)

In a narrative form, discuss the team’s experience on projects within the San Antonio region

and more specifically related to projects involving the City’s Transportation and Capital

Improvements Department (TCI). Discuss the team’s experience working with TCI and list

design work completed for city-funded projects.

XI. AWARD OF CONTRACT AND RESERVATION OF RIGHTS A. Centro reserves the right to award more than one, or no contract(s) in response to this RFQ and

to contact any Respondent to negotiate. The Contract(s), if awarded, will be awarded to the Respondent(s) whose submittal(s) is/are deemed most advantageous to Centro San Antonio and its stakeholders, as determined by the selection committee.

B. Centro may accept any submittal in whole or in part. If subsequent negotiations are conducted, said negotiations shall not constitute a rejection or alternate RFQ on the part of Centro.

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C. Centro reserves the right to accept one or more submittals or reject any or all submittals received in response to this RFQ, and to waive informalities and irregularities in the proposals received. Centro also reserves the right to terminate this RFQ, reissue a subsequent solicitation and/or remedy technical errors in the RFQ process.

D. Centro will require the selected Respondent(s) to execute a contract in a form to be provided by Centro. No work shall commence until Centro signs the contract document(s) and Respondent provides necessary evidence of insurance. In the event the parties cannot negotiate and execute a contract within the time specified, Centro reserves the right to terminate negotiations with the selected Respondent and commence negotiations with another Respondent.

E. This RFQ does not commit Centro to enter into a Contract or award any services related to this RFQ, nor does it obligate Centro to pay any costs incurred in preparation or submission of a response or in anticipation of a contract.

F. Any cost or expense incurred by the Respondent that is associated with the preparation of the submittal, the Pre-Submittal Conference, if any, or during any phase of the selection process, shall be borne solely by Respondent.

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EXHIBIT I

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EXHIBIT II