Background

The agreement being negotiated was for the design, construction, and management of hotel on a parcel contained within a conference / recreation development currently under construction. The parcel was approximately a 1 ½ acres. The agreement required a multi story hotel containing a specific number of hotel rooms by a required opening date. The required opening date limited permitting, design, and construction to less than 24 months.

The construction activities would be further hampered by:

• the developers concurrent construction activities in completing the development;
• the concurrent construction activities of adjacent property owners having similar scheduling constraints;
• the location of the construction staging area, at a yet to be specified location, away from the hotel parcel with the stipulation that the staging area could be relocated by the developer throughout the construction of the hotel; and
• the restrictions imposed by the agreement on easements and restrictions for blocking streets and overhead cranes.

The agreement affected the design of the Hotel by:

• the limited size of the parcel;
• easements on the parcel for utilities and public access;
• restrictions on the height of the structure; and
• the constraints placed on exterior finishes, treatments, and architectural detailing by the design criteria for the development.

Services Provided:

The services provided to our client included the following:

Agreement Review

Review, comments, and recommendations for changes to the site development agreement as it related to constraints placed on the design, construction, and engineering of the hotel.

Project Scheduling

Identification of constraints to the project schedule and recommendations for the management of those constraints. Recommendations included:

• use of private plan reviewers to shorten the county permitting schedule durations;
• possible use of barges for construction and construction staging;
• getting contractor on board early and to use the contractors expertise on materials and methods to shorten construction times; and
• scope, cost, schedule and management strategies for a successful project.

Other Services

• Reviewed and recommended changes to the programming of the hotel to better meet operational considerations and address the guests needs and expectations during their stay at the facility.
• Attendance at negotiations with developer.

Solutions / Deliverables

Rimkus expertise in design, and construction was brought to bear in a short timeframe from the inception of the agreement to finalizing the agreement. This allowed our client to determine whether executing the agreement was in his best interest and to have a cleared path forward toward a profitable property in a prestigious location.