The City of Austin and the Austin Housing Finance Corporation (AHFC) have announced a Request for Qualifications process to identify teams of professionals specializing in the design, permitting, and construction oversight services of affordable housing residential developments. The team will serve the AHFC by designing site specific plans to be submitted for review and approval through the City of Austin on AHFC-owned property. Services also include construction concurrence services during the building of the project.

This Request for Qualifications will be active starting November 4th until the end of day November 30th. Interested vendors must submit their qualifications as described below before 5:00PM  November 30, 2022 to be considered for an award of a contract with AHFC to provide the services described in this RFQ. The application package must be saved as one digital pdf file on a USB drive and mailed or hand delivered to the following address:

Attn: AHFC FY23 Architectural Site Design Services RFQ
Javier V. Delgado
1000 East 11th Street Suite 200
Austin, Texas 78702

Specifics of the RFQ process are outlined below.  Any questions regarding this Solicitation should be directed to Javier V. Delgado, AHFC representative for this solicitation who can be emailed at javier.delgado@austintexas.gov.

Purpose
This Request for Qualifications solicitation is released with the intent of identifying teams of professionals specializing in the design, permitting, and construction oversight services of affordable housing residential developments. The team will serve the Austin Housing Finance Corporation (AHFC) with designing site specific plans to be submitted for review and approval through the City of Austin on AHFC-owned property. Services also include construction concurrence services during the building of the project.

These site specific development plans will be used as part of the Corporation’s planning and construction activities used to develop affordable housing. The range of projects can be from a single family-unit to a multi-family site plan, to a small residential subdivision of condos or townhomes. The design team may be required to design infrastructure (i.e. water quality controls, water/ wastewater service extensions, work in right-of way) as part of the project.

Background
AHFC is a quasi-public instrumentality of the City of Austin created in 1979 whose mission is to provide housing services and increase the supply of low-income housing in Austin. AHFC administers a number of business activities to increase the supply of affordable housing in Austin including among others, acquisition and development, gap financing, down payment assistance, and home repair services. In 2018, City of Austin residents approved the issuance by the City of $250 million in General Obligation Bonds to be used to increase the supply of affordable housing in Austin. The entirety of those funds were and continue to be expended by the AHFC, including the use of $100 million for the strategic acquisition of property to be developed as affordable housing.

Using these funds AHFC has acquired more than 65 – acres of vacant and underutilized commercial and residential property along existing and planned public transportation routes to be disposed of by AHFC and developed as affordable housing. A portion of these acquisitions will be developed “in-house” by AHFC. Therefore, there is a need for a design team to help facilitate these “in-house” developments.

Scope of Services
The design team(s) identified through this solicitation will contract with AHFC to provide the following services for AHFC affordable developments. The contract term shall be for two years, with one, one-year mutual option for renewal. The total contract amount shall not exceed $299,000.

Initial Site Evaluation and Yield Analysis
The design team shall at the direction of AHFC conduct a site evaluation on the subject property. This would include confirmation of site boundaries, on-site assessment, review of zoning, subdivision, and environmental regulations, determine water/wastewater service capacity, and performing of any applicable due diligence to assess any restrictions on the property.

Yield Analysis
Based on the regulatory restrictions and due diligence, the design team would meet with AHFC staff to discuss what potential types of development seem feasible (single-family vs. multi-family). With direction of AHFC, the design team will generate a potential residential unit yield. The design team should use the Affordability Unlocked (AU) ordinance when making the yield analysis.

Design
Based on the direction of AHFC, the design team will the generate options for the development configuration of the property. After meeting with AHFC to select the configuration, the design team will then generate the required components of the applicable development application. Design phase will include the generation of permit-grade plans that will be used in the permit process and construction phase. Plans will need to be sealed by professional architect or engineer.

Permitting
The design team will be responsible for compiling, submitting, and addressing review comments with the purpose of securing the required permits. Permit application(s) can include zoning, subdivision, site plan, infrastructure construction plans, building permits (when applicable). The design team will serve as the development agent on behalf of AHFC for all City of Austin development applications.

Preferred Vendor Qualifications
The design team shall include at a minimum an architectural and a civil engineering professional and may consist of one or more consultants, from one or more firms, that in totality represent the subject matter expertise across all disciplines necessary to successfully provide the services described in the Scope of Services section of this solicitation.

AHFC prefers a vendor with local experience designing and permitting a variety of development uses types including low-density detached and high-density attached residential and non-residential real estate developed as both single and multi-phase development.  Experience with securing permit through the City of Austin development is most preferred.

AHFC prefers a design team with experience with affordable housing developments.

SOLICITATION PROCESS AND SCHEDULE

Process and Timeline
This Request for Qualifications will be active starting NoTember 4th until the end of day November 30th.

Interested vendors must submit their qualifications as described below before 5:00 PM. November 30, 2022 to be considered for an award of a contract with AHFC to provide the services described in this RFQ. The application package must be saved as one digital pdf file saved on a USB drive and mailed to the following address:

Attn: AHFC FY23 Design Team RFQ
Javier Delgado
1000 East 11^th Street Suite 200
Austin, Texas 78702

AHFC will select a preferred vendor from those application packages submitted to AHFC and notify all vendors by December 15th.

AHFC will promptly coordinate with selected vendor to negotiate and execute the professional services contract for the vendor to provide services to AHFC within thirty-five days from the date AHFC notifies the vendor of contract award.

AHFC anticipates that the vendor awarded a contract under this RFQ will begin providing the services described in the Solicitation by no later than February 1st, 2023.

Contracting Requirements
The selected vendor must be a legally incorporated business not currently debarred from doing business with the Federal or State government, nor the City of Austin.

The selected vendor must currently be, or be willing to, register with the City of Austin Financial Services Department as a Registered Vendor to be awarded a contract to provide services under this RFQ.

The selected vendor must be willing to add AHFC as an insured party under their business insurance and potentially modify their insurance coverage to meet AHFC’s minimum coverage requirements, if necessary.

Submittal Requirements
To be considered for an award to provide the professional services described in this Request for Qualifications solicitation please provide the following to the AHFC:

Cover Letter or Executive Summary
Please provide a cover letter or executive summary that includes the following information:

1.​​​​​​​  Introduction to your firm and project team

2. Discussion of why you believe your firm or project team is best suited to provide the services discussed in Section 3 of this solicitation

3. Description of at least two separate examples of your organization successfully providing services similar in nature those described in Section 3.4 of this solicitation

4. Description of why your firm or project team meets the Preferred Vendor Qualifications described in Section 4 of this solicitation

• Full contact information (phone and email) for a point of contact authorized to negotiate and represent your firm or project team regarding this solicitation and contract
  • Design Examples

Please provide at least two visual examples either conceptual site plans or massings similar in nature to those described in Section 3.3 of this Solicitation

Evaluation Criteria
Each application package submitted responsive to this RFQ will be evaluated by AHFC real estate staff to determine which vendor is most qualified to provide the services discussed in this RFQ.

Vendors with experience providing the services discussed in this RFQ and with the Preferred Qualifications discussed in Section 4 of this solicitation will be the most competitive.

Any questions regarding this Solicitation should be directed to Javier Delgado, AHFC representative for this solicitation who can be emailed at javier.delgado@austintexas.gov.