City Hall contract details emerge as build date firms
Construction is set to start next month on Sunshine Coast Council’s $59.6 million new City Hall building.
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Construction is set to start next month on Sunshine Coast Council's $59.6 million new City Hall building in the Maroochydore CBD.
Local suppliers and subcontractors have been invited to get involved in the project, with an online information session to be held this week.
The project, labelled by council as a "signature civic building" in the new city centre, was set to be a "major catalyst for the development of the city centre's commercial core" and play a significant role in activating the area.
The 10-storey building plus rooftop was set to house about 600 council workers.
Local builders McNab were named as preferred supplier to design and construct the new council chambers, with the contract awarded in December, 2019.
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McNab managing director Michael McNab said it was anticipated up to 200 workers would be onsite on any given day once construction started, with more than 2000 workers to be employed over the duration of the project.
The announcement comes as more details emerged of key appointments to one of the council's "game-changing" projects.
Prominent local development and planning consultancy Project Urban was awarded a $252,000 contract in 2017 to provide project management services for the project.
They were also awarded a new contract in 2019 to provide project management services specifically for the construction stage of the City Hall project.
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A Sunshine Coast Council spokesman said a public tender process had been carried out for both contracts, with 17 submissions received in 2017 for the initial contract.
An assessment panel of council officers was appointed to evaluate submissions, before a recommendation was made to the Procurement Contracts Committee.
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The committee, made up of "manager-level council officers" considered the recommendation and supported awarding the contract to Project Urban.
"The contract was executed under delegated authority by the Acting Manager, Business and Innovation," the spokesman said.
The contract was valued at $252,095, excluding GST.
The spokesman said another open tender process had been carried out in 2019 for the construction stage, with the same process applied as in 2017 resulting in Project Urban being awarded the contract.
"This contract is currently being performed," the spokesman said.
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Award-winning national architecture firm Cottee Parker was announced as principal architect for the project in late-January, 2019, after a request for quote process was undertaken.
A council statement last January said in addition to a highly competitive pricing structure, Cottee Parker offered "capability and expertise including national and local experience and a professional design team with strong credentials and a proven track record to work on this significant project".
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Cottee Parker had a nationwide presence and had been involved in other significant projects including Youi's global headquarters at Sippy Downs, the Mercedes Autohaus in Newstead and Queen's Wharf in Brisbane City.
Construction was set to finish by the second half of 2022 on the City Hall project, which was touted as being expected to "establish a new benchmark in commercial developments not only across the Sunshine Coast, but throughout Queensland" on Project Urban's website.
Project Urban managing director Andrew Stevens said he was unable to comment on the City Hall project as it fell under the Project Urban project management arm, run independently by fellow managing director Paul Blair, and was not under the planning side of the business.
Mr Stevens said council should be applauded for taking the lead on the CBD project, as not many regional councils had the initiative to undertake such a long-term, visionary project.
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