CITY OF ATWATER
REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS
FOR
GRANT WRITING
ARCHITECTURAL & FINANCIAL SERVICES
I. INTRODUCTION
The City of Atwater wishes to sponsor applications for 2007-08 Planning & Technical
Assistance Community Development Block Grants under both the General and Economic
Development Allocations to the State Department of Housing and Community Development - to
fund architectural & financial feasibility studies of four individual projects:
The City Library Renovation Study:
• The study will be to develop a master plan for both short term repairs and longer-term usage of
the building.
• The upper, main floor of the two story historic brick library is used for community meetings
and other functions. The basement is currently used by the Chamber of Commerce.
• The building requires some remedial repairs to continue its usage. A more extensive renovation
program is needed to make the building accessible and to make it potentially usable by a variety
of community-based groups, such as community service organizations, WIC, and other Targeted
Income Group service providers.
Downtown Revitalization :
• Atwater’s downtown commercial core is struggling to compete with outlying commercial
centers. Its sales leakage will soon be exacerbated with the upcoming construction of an open air
regional shopping center, located across the highway from the downtown.
• In order to revive and become an active core, the downtown must reinvent itself and make itself
a more attractive place.
• A renewed streetscape, combined with a refurbishment of many of the commercial facades,
will begin the revitalization process.
• In addition, the downtown property owners and businesses need to reformulate how they do
business, what goods and services they could best offer, and develop specific strategies to
compete against the new mall and other outlying commercial centers.
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Affordable Housing :
• Immediately east of the commercial core are several vacant or underutilized sites, which are
ideal for the development of affordable housing apartments.
• The City needs to develop an initial study to determine the sites’ potential capacities, to
establish financial and funding strategies, and to create a marketing document that can be used to
attract project developers.
• The study will create a document that can be used directly in applications to the State for
affordable housing block grant funding.
Creamery Building Feasibility Study:
• Located along the frontage of Atwater Boulevard near Castle Street, and also having frontage
on Broadway is the “Creamery Building”.
• This facility has not been occupied in many years and demonstrates many characteristics of
dilapidation and blight.
• The building represents a significant visual blight to the adjacent property owners. The
property itself is lacking most necessary amenities to accommodate business operations and
surrounding infrastructure has been severely damaged by tree roots, all surrounding curbs, gutter,
and limited sidewalks as well as street paving are constraints to the reuse of this facility.
• The structure appears to be in sound condition however the actual condition along with the
roof, windows, plumbing, electrical and mechanical systems all need study. The building is
predominately concrete and in some cases walls are in excess of three feet thick.
• The City needs to develop a specific feasibility study which will analyze the structural integrity
and other systems in the facility and also to develop strategies for reuse, possibly as a business
incubator, warehouse, service complex, or other employment uses.
II. SCOPE OF SERVICES
The City intends to contract with an experienced architectural / financial team to provide the
following technical services:
Grant Writing
• Writing of four CDBG Planning & Technical Assistance Grant Applications, and if funded,
corresponding to the HCD approved grant, provide the following:
General Allocation P/TA Grant - Project Specific
The City Library Renovation
Short & Long-Term Master Plan
Architectural Analysis & Design
Existing Conditions Analysis :
.. On site survey & analysis of existing problems, opportunities, and remedial building needs
... interviews with existing and potential community group users, including TIG service
providers - to determine how building can best be used
Short-Term Plan :
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.. Identify short term remediation “fixes” to eliminate existing environmental / functional
shortcomings to current users
Long-Term Plan:
.. creation of a design master plan for to allow for code access compliance and expansion of uses,
including other community functions and community gatherings, including TIG programs &
users
Cost Analysis :
.. establish detailed architectural estimates for short & long-term scenarios
Report Writing :
.. compile a final report, with recommendations for action
Financial Analysis
Financial Analysis :
..establish ongoing maintenance budgets
..develop a priority list of repairs & improvements
..match priorities & costs to current available funds and to potential future funds
Funding Analysis & Recommendations :
.. develop source & use of funds information
.. identify key contacts
Implementation Planning
.. develop action plan with objectives & assignments
.. identify key players and organizations
.. establish a timeline for specific follow-through actions
Economic Development Allocation P/TA Grant - Non-Specific
Downtown Facades & Streetscape Design
Facades
Preparatory Work
• Survey & Define Program Area :
.. conduct walking survey with City officials/volunteers to determine boundaries / .. prepare a
simple map of the program area
• Define Scope of Eligible Work :
.. determine which facades are eligible and priority
.. define eligible construction work: windows, awnings, signs, etc.
• Photo Montage :
.. photograph all downtown building facades & prepare photo montage
• Introductory Workshop :
.. conduct community workshop
.. goals: encourage participation in the program
establish theme / flavor / goals for facade program
Conceptual Design
• Facade Design :
.. develop preliminary conceptual design sketches
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• Cost Estimating :
.. prepare conceptual estimates for buildings for which property owners have expressed a strong
interest in further participation
• Design Workshop :
.. present design recommendations to property owners & community
.. discussion of designs & encouragement of other ideas
.. solicit owner participation in program
Financial Assistance Strategy
• Program Examples :
.. gather examples of successful programs used in other cities
• Source of Funds Analysis :
.. conduct search of potential funding sources, analyze their availability
• Targeted Income Group Job Projections :
.. survey current downtown businesses to determine existing TIG employment .. project number
and percentage of TIG jobs created & retained
• Council Work Session :
.. conduct work session with Council, City staff, and other appropriate parties .. assistance may
include:
direct rebates, fee waivers, low interest loans, assistance with historic preservation tax credit
applications, property tax relief (Mills Act), subsidized final design work, and other “carrot”
methods
.. other considerations may include:
property owner agreements to maintain city-vested improvements, methods of contracting,
improvement proposal contents, signage & historic preservation ordinances, code enforcement
• Financial & Design Workbook :
.. write guidelines summarizing program area & scope of eligible work
.. write draft (for Council adoption) of financial incentives program
.. create forms to be submitted by participating property owners
Streetscape
• Design Workshop :
.. conduct introductory workshop with City, volunteers, merchants & property owners
.. establish theme and goals
.. display numerous examples of streetscape elements
.. establish participation levels of City/ others
.. review provided historic photographs of Atwater & discuss precedents
• Design Master Plan :
.. create an overall Downtown Design Plan, which locates specific streetscape elements &
identifies a “kit of parts”
.. conduct workshop(s): get feedback & revise designs as appropriate
• Cost Estimating / Budgeting :
.. prepare conceptual estimates for streetscape improvements
.. list out unit costs for individual items
• Source of Funds Analysis :
.. research types of available funding & provide recommendations
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• Phasing / Action Plan :
.. develop implementation phasing strategies
.. create action list - with responsibility assignments for City/ others
.. create timeline
.. identify initial demonstration project
• Workshops & Presentations :
.. conduct several workshops during the entire design process
.. make formal presentation of final report to City Council
General Allocation P/TA Grant
Affordable Housing Feasibility Study
Architectural Analysis & Design
• Existing Site & Analysis - onsite survey & analysis of existing site constraints
• Programming - development of design issues and standards for housing, under state funding
criteria
• Conceptual Design - feasibility site planning and architectural design - creation of a designs for
several sites, matched with housing unit design
• Cost Analysis - establish site improvements and new buildings estimates
• Report Writing - compile a final report, with recommendations for action
• Presentations - to City Council & staff
Financial Analysis & Loan Packaging
• Programming - onsite interviews, housing comparables
• Review Architectural Plans - review concepts for market & financial viability
• Financial Analysis - complete development & operating budgets, proforma & cash flow
analysis
• Funding Analysis & Recommendations - develop source & use of funds information
• Report Writing - compile a final report, public presentations
Economic Development Allocation P/TA Grant - Project Specific
Creamery Building Feasibility Study
Evaluation
• Existing Conditions Analysis :
.. on site survey & analysis of existing problems, opportunities, and remedial building and site
needs
• Potential Use Strategies :
.. evaluate Creamery Building’s physical capacity & capability to house specific types of
businesses
.. identify business types in community which are entirely missing and needed, or under serving
the population, where demand is greater than what is available, or new businesses which may be
attracted to the community
.. analyze identified business types versus building’s capacity / capability to determine which
businesses will match the building’s potential
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Conceptual Design
• Develop several conceptual renovation designs for the building and site - based upon potential
viable business types
• Identify common design elements in each scheme which would be required for renovation,
regardless of specific uses
• Explore flexibility and multi-use/ multi-tenant design options
Cost Estimating
• Develop full renovation cost estimates
• Use common required design elements as base costs
• Create additional estimates, varying by design/use scheme
Financial Analysis
• Funding Sources - Identify potential public and private sources for development
• Develop overall project costs - including permits, impact fees, engineering costs, hard
construction costs, appraisal fees, and other items
• Develop annual income projections for each use scenario
• Create 15 year proformas for each scenario - showing income, operating expenses, maintenance
and taxes, debt service and final projected income / internal rate of return
Meetings and Final Report
• Conduct ongoing meetings with City, property owner and other stake holders
• Identify follow-on action steps
• Prepare final report
• Present final report to City Council and community
III. PROPOSAL FORMAT
A qualifying proposal must include all of the following items:
1. Firm/Team Description: Provide a brief description of the firm &/or team members and the
main contact person.
2. Location: Provide respondent's address, telephone and facsimile numbers.
3. Experience: Provide description of experience in successfully completing similar projects.
Specific experience should include:
• CDBG grant writing
• CDBG feasibility studies in rural areas
• Historic preservation experience
• Downtown Revitalization experience
• Affordable housing experience
• Commercial rehabilitation experience
• Financial analysis expertise for similar projects
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• Funding with public sector financing experience, including successful grant/loan writing
(HOME, CDBG, Federal Home Loan Bank)
• Experience with implementation of similar projects
4. Individuals: Provide resumes of the individuals who will work on the contract, their
assignments under the proposed scope of work, and their qualifications. The City intends to enter
into a fixed-fee contract for services with the successful respondent.
5. References: Provide references who have knowledge of consultant's recent work.
6. Sections of the proposal may be separated by dividers.
V. SUBMISSION OF PROPOSAL
One copy of the proposal must be received or postmarked no later than 1:00 PM on June 22nd at
City Hall, attention:
Scott McBride
Director of Economic Development
& Special Projects
City of Atwater
750 Bellevue Road
Atwater, CA 95301
Proposals should be marked: "CDBG Proposal." Inquiries may be addressed to Mr. McBride at
the above address.
VI. SELECTION PROCESS
The City will be using the competitive negotiation process wherein the relevant experience of
each consultant is evaluated as it relates to the Scopes of Services and grant purposes.
City staff will review the proposals and will make a recommendation to the City Council, who
will make the final approval and award of contract.
The City will select a consultant team based on the following criteria:
1. Consultant's responsiveness in addressing the requested items in Part III of the RFP.
2. Consultant's demonstrated experience with successfully completing similar projects.
3. Experience and qualifications of staff and/or sub-consultants assigned to the project.
4. Performance record.
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VII. AWARD OF CONTRACT
The City reserves the right to award a contract to the firm that presents the proposal which, in the
sole judgment of the City, best demonstrates the expertise desired by the City.
The City reserves the right to reject any or all proposals and waive any informality or irregularity
in the submittals.
This Request for Proposal does not represent a commitment on the part of the City to award a
contract.
Award of the contract is expected on June 25, 2007.
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