Powder House Community School Proposal
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Submitted March 23, 2015 Angela M. Allen Purchasing Director City Hall 93 Highland Avenue Somerville, MA 02143 Powder House Community School Proposal Powder House Community School Proposal Contents A Letter of Transmital 5 B Statement of Qualifications 7 C Comparable Projects and References 16 D Project Narrative 36 E Purchase/Lease Price 58 F Financial Information 59 G Municipal Benefits/Impacts/ Costs 63 H Exclusive Negotiating & Land Disposition Agreements 69 I Financial Deposit 70 J Certification of Good Faith 71 K Disclosure Statement 73 Appendix A Resumes 75 Appendix B Executed Addenda 109 Contents City of Somerville 3 Powder House Community School Proposal 4 Contents City of Somerville Powder House Community School Proposal A. Letter of Transmittal Letter of Transmittal City of Somerville 5 Powder House Community School Proposal 6 Letter of Transmittal City of Somerville Powder House Community School Proposal B. Statement of Qualifications B1. Development Team Lead Developer Co-Developer and Affirmative Co-Developer General Contractor Investments, Inc. Somerville Community NEI Corporation Design Team Lead Architect Landscape Architect Civil, Survey, Traffic Structural and Building Envelope Utile, Inc. Ground, Inc. Design Consultants, Inc. Simpson, Gumpertz & Heger, Inc. Property Management Community Attorney Property Engagement Artistic Condominium Manager Gilmartin, Curator coUrbanize Magence LLP Peabody Properties James Hull Environmental Community Engineer / LSP Environmental Consultant GZA Environmental Advisory Resources New Ecology Inc. Statement of Qualifications City of Somerville 7 Powder House Community School Proposal The Development Team is led by Affirmative Investments, Inc., a mission-oriented Boston- based development and investment banking firm that is an active developer of housing, economic development projects and mixed- use facilities. Affirmative works with commu- nities to build sustainable projects that grow out of community planning and community priorities. Affirmative always works in partnership with local reuse of the building. New Ecology, which worked with us non-profit groups or municipalities. With the Powder and Utile on the ZUMIX project bring their green exper- House Lofts, Affirmative is teaming up with Somerville tise to the team. Our landscape architect is Ground, Inc. Community Corporation, which is assisting the City of of Somerville, which was part of the earlier Tufts proposal Somerville in assuring that housing opportunities are and knows the site and the community very well. Our made available to a range of income levels, and with Civil, Survey and Traffic Engineer is Design Consultants, Northeast Interiors (NEI), a strong contractor with whom Inc. of Somerville, with whom Affirmative worked in we have just completed a large community grocery store Chelsea. The environmental engineer is GZA, with whom project in Boston. we work often. Counsel is Neil Golden of Gilmarten The two development partners bring a direct connec- Magence, with whom we have just completed a commer- tion to the City and the community and a knowledgeable cial condominium project in Brockton. We are teaming partner in the physical challenge of rehabilitating The with James Hull, an artistic curator who helped develop Powder House School. Our architect, Utile, of Boston, is gallery space at the FP3 condominium and Laconia Lofts involved in a range of arts-centered and housing projects. in South Boston who will help us program gallery space in Affirmative has worked with Utile on two other projects, the building and connections to the exterior park. coUr- including the rehabilitation of a fire-house in East Boston banize will assist us in building a digital platform to keep into a music arts center for ZUMIX. Utile brings Simpson, the community involved as the project progresses. And Gumpertz & Heger, our engineering firm that has helped Peabody Properties, with its vast experience, will market us analyze the structural and envelope issues related to and manage the condominium units once we are complete. 8 Statement of Qualifications City of Somerville Powder House Community School Proposal Lead Developer – Affirmative Co-Developer – Somerville Investments Inc. Community Corporation Affirmative Investments, Inc. uses creative- fi Since 1969, Somerville Community Corporation has served the nancing and development expertise to stimulate City of Somerville and its residents. SCC focuses the majority of its economic development, expand housing oppor- resources on the central question of sustaining affordability and tunities and deliver critical services that directly livability for the lower income two thirds of the population, the re- and positively impact communities. cent immigrants and generational descendants of the earlier immi- Since 1983, Affirmative has helped finance grants. As a membership-based organization with nearly 400 formal and develop over $1.1 billion in 46 economic members and 1500 constituents, SCC is a community development development projects and over $800 million in corporation strongly rooted in grassroots community organizing 92 housing facilities. Recent projects include practice, resulting in a number of successful campaigns over the a 40-unit senior housing facility in Winthrop, years to influence affordable housing policy and neighborhood a commercial condominium in Brockton, a quality of life improvements. Since 2005, SCC has also built a strong 45,000 square foot supermarket in Dudley practice of participatory community planning originally with the Square and a LEED Platinum rehabilitation in East Somerville Initiative, concentrated in that neighborhood and Lowell. Affirmative will be led by its two prin- later the Community Corridor Planning project along the anticipated cipals, David Ennis and Tara Mizrahi, along MBTA Green Line Extension. with Kamran Zahedi, of Urbanica, to create a While SCC aims to benefit the entire community through its team with strong condominium and urban infill community development model, its most important work is directly experience. with the segment of the community most at risk to address critical Mission is central to Affirmative’s corporate issues of equity in the face of the tremendous transformation facing make-up. We believe in a triple bottom line - the City—and region—today. SCC board and staff members, as well People, Planet and Profit. Our team produces as SCC’s overall membership, has vigilantly concentrated its work to projects that are not only economically sustain- counteract market-driven displacement pressures. able but have positive societal and environmen- tal impacts. Since our founding in 1983, Affirmative Investments has specialized in working with communities to develop real estate that com- Co-Developer and General Contractor – NEI General Contracting bines mission and quality. Our projects have NEI is a full service general construction company offering owners included rental and for-sale properties, homes and developers a fast-paced integrated approach for all project types. for families and active elders, assisted living NEI has completed over $400M in successful construction projects communities for the frail elderly, service-en- spanning a wide variety of types, technologies and programs. NEI riched housing and many types of economic maintains a 100% customer retention rate and offers a wide variety of development projects including charter schools, preconstruction and development services to ensure project funding health care centers and community grocery is utilized to its greatest potential. NEI acts as an at-risk developer or stores. Affirmative Investments has been recog- development partner in select projects. nized for its work by numerous organizations, locally and nationally and believes strongly in working closely with the communities in which it is investing. Statement of Qualifications City of Somerville 9 Powder House Community School Proposal come from a genuine back-and forth opment and residential land develop- dialogue with the future users and ment projects. DCI’s clients include those affected by a project. The princi- municipalities, state agencies, devel- pal of Ground, Shauna Gillies-Smith, opers, architects, law firms and other Architect – Utile is an active Somerville community consulting companies. The firm’s mis- Utile is a Boston-based design firm member. Ms. Gillies-Smith assisted sion is to provide clients with innova- built like a think tank. The firm thrives as a volunteer professional during tive solutions to their diverse project on solving complex problems in Green Line extension charrettes, was and business challenges. intelligent and pragmatic ways. From a member of the working group for theoretical issues that frame policy to the Union Square Redesign, and is the practical implementation of archi- currently an active member of the tectural commissions, Utile develops a Union Square Chapter of Somerville rigorous research-based approach for Local First. finding the best solutions. Environmental Engineer – GZA The firm’s work is not driven by GeoEnvironmental Inc. aesthetics, but by a shared interest in GZA is a professional services con- doing deep-dive research focused on sulting firm focused on geotechnical, the cultural, social, regulatory, and Structural Engineer – Simpson, environmental, water, ecological, and environmental issues inherent in a Gumpertz & Heger Inc. construction management services. given design problem. Utile finds op- Structural design engineers help With