HIGHFILL -- A committee has recommended that airport officials hire a construction manager to shepherd a project that would add a western concourse to the terminal.
The Northwest Arkansas National Airport Operations Committee heard presentations Wednesday from two groups before deciding to recommend a joint venture between Manhattan Construction and Nabholz Construction. Other contenders were Austin Commercial, a Dallas-based builder, and Baldwin & Shell Construction of Rogers, who were partnering on the venture.
Fentress Architects was selected earlier for the western concourse design work, which would add up to 94,000 square feet to the terminal and cost an estimated $72 million to design and build.
Aaron Burkes, CEO at the airport, told board members that the finalists got almost identical scores from the staff.
"We see a lot of strengths in both of these teams, and I think what probably gives the edge is the experience that Nabholz brings with the airport, combined with the experience that Manhattan has in aviation projects," Burkes said. "It just seems like an extremely strong team. Based on my own experience and the experience of others here at XNA, there just aren't a lot of complaints about Nabholz."
Board member Mike Johnson said he's worked closely with three of the four companies during his tenure at the University of Arkansas. Johnson said he felt that both were capable of delivering a solid result. He said Austin Commercial has worked more with Fentress.
"I lean to Manhattan and Nabholz, and it's nothing negative against Austin and Baldwin & Shell," Johnson said. "I just think all the right energy, synergy and things are in place. I know Fentress works with any number of construction contractors around the nation, they'll work fine here."
Nabholz, headquartered in Conway, has offices in Rogers, and Manhattan is one of the biggest commercial airport construction firms in the country. Manhattan is based in Naples, Fla., and has offices in several major U.S. cities.
If approved by the airport authority board, the staff will negotiate a contract for the work. If an agreement cannot be reached, the staff will turn to the partnership of Austin Commercial and Baldwin & Shell to try to reach an agreement.
In a construction manager at-risk project such as the one at the Northwest Arkansas airport, the owner selects a construction manager who is responsible for building the project. The construction manager becomes a project team member early on and provides input on items such as the budget, construction cost estimating and the overall schedule, as well as providing review of design drawings to identify potential issues and potential cost savings.
Typically, such contracts contain a provision in which the construction manager stipulates to a guaranteed maximum price for a project above which the owner is not liable for payment. Pricing of the construction is begun early in the design process and is refined as the design progresses.
The guaranteed maximum price typically consists of a cost-plus-fixed-fee structure, where the actual project costs for labor and materials are passed through to the owner and the construction manager charges a fixed fee on top of that amount.
Six firms applied and were pared to four, then to two by the airport staff.
Metro on 06/05/2020