After conducting a procurement bid process for the construction and expansion of the Coral Gables Art Cinema, the Coral Gables City Commission directed city staff to seek out the second-lowest bidder, West Construction Inc., for the project. During Tuesday’s city commission meeting, the chief proc urement officer presented and recommended awarding the Coral Gables Art Cinema expansion project to Hycon Investments as the most responsive and responsible bidder. Instead, Mayor Vince Lago suggested pursuing the second-lowest bidder, West Construction, because the city has worked with the company in the past. “I am only familiar with West Construction because they did a really good job in regards to Fire Station 4, and I think we had cost savings there. There really weren’t that many change orders. They were on time, and a lot of the contingency was returned,” Mayor Vince Lago said. “I don’t know West Construction personally. I’ve never met them, but I’ve seen their work here in the city. I’m not really privy to the individuals who came in first place, and the difference was $6,000. This art cinema expansion is a critical project that I want to make sure gets delivered on time and within budget. We need to really focus on that.” West Construction is willing to match or slightly reduce its price compared with Hycon Investments, added Peter Iglesias, the city manager. “As you know, we provided the cinema with $450,000, and now we’re doing the construction management also, and of course there’s no charge for that, so it’s a $6,000 difference in a million-plus-dollar job,” Mr. Iglesias said. “We have a very good rapport with West Construction, and I think it would certainly make the management of the job easier from that perspective because they’re a known entity that has done a good job.” Once negotiations and agreements are concluded, West Construction would be awarded an estimated $1,239,900 to build and convert a storefront retail space at 240 Aragon Ave. into a modern 92-seat film theater with a large lobby, curated café and administrative offices. The re-envisioned storefront would feature cinema museum artifacts from the late 19th and 20th centuries. Once completed, the new auditorium will host more sensory-friendly screenings, curated conversations with leading arts and film experts, and programming serving underserved children. To facilitate the expansion of the Coral Gables Art Cinema, city officials also extended the lease with the cinema’s operators for an additional five years. The lease will now expire in September 2035. “When we talk about construction, we’re always talking about being over budget and behind schedule, and I think Fire Station 4 was a perfect example of how the contractor was able to stay on task and get it done,” Commissioner Ariel Fernandez said. “If they’re willing to improve upon the top bidder, I’d be happy to move forward and award them the contract.” The post Coral Gables Art Cinema’s lease extended, expansion nears appeared first on Miami Today. ...read more read less