The City recently issued an RFQ/P inviting Developers, Construction companies, Art Administrators, and Non-profits to submit qualification information (Phase I) explaining how their team would provide a strong partner for this public/private partnership effort. A short list of teams has been established and will be meeting with the public at a Listening Session to be held in the City of Emeryville Council Chambers located at 1333 Park Avenue at 7:00 PM on Tuesday, May 22nd.
Request for Qualifications and Proposals
Art Center Building (former United Stamping)
4060-4062 Hollis Street, Emeryville
Submission Deadline: April 13, 2018
THE OPPORTUNITY
The City of Emeryville is seeking qualifications initially and, later, proposals from qualified teams of development and arts/cultural organizations to develop an Arts and Culture Center in the City of Emeryville.
The City of Emeryville is a compact, urban community of approximately 12,000 residents and 1,000 businesses employing 21,000 people daily - within 1.2 square miles. Emeryville is located at the eastern foot of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, on the east San Francisco Bay shoreline.
Emeryville is a center of art and innovation, where biotechnology, technology, and advanced manufacturing firms thrive in a community where residents, employees and businesses produce visual and performing art works known worldwide.
The City was historically a place of heavy industry, but has transformed itself into a dynamic mixed-use community through public-private partnerships. The City has adopted plans and policies that explicitly recognize the synergies between the arts community and the City’s economic future. Accordingly, the City is soliciting for partners to join the City in establishing a public-private partnership to design, build and operate a world-class community cultural arts center to amplify the civic and economic benefits of the City’s creative class.
OVERALL OBJECTIVES AND KEY PROJECT ELEMENTS
The City has identified the following overall objectives for the Art Center project:
- Minimize City subsidy while ensuring fiscal sustainability of operations
- Maximize civic and community arts-based uses of the facility
- Expedite completion of the project
- Utilize robust community engagement in developing programming for the facility
To achieve these overall objectives, the City has identified the following key elements it seeks to have included in the project:
- Dedicated space for annual Emeryville Celebration of the Arts
- Dedicated and managed gallery space for artists
- Dedicated flexible* use space suitable for performing arts and other community events.
- *Descriptions of soft improvements, such as mobile partition walls for the gallery(ries), work tables, cabinets, signage, etc. may be deferred until a final design is to be considered but should be contemplated at the proposal stage.
In order to achieve the City’s objective relating to fiscal sustainability, it is envisioned that the project could include components that provide revenues to support operation and maintenance costs. Such uses could include co-working space, arts-related retail businesses or office space, and/or a café or other uses. While not a required element, proposers may also consider how dedicated flexible use space could serve as the City’s Emergency Operations Center (EOC).
The City Council has expressed a strong interest in celebrating the City’s culture of innovation in its approach to the project. Consequently, interested parties are encouraged to apply innovative approaches to sustainability and architectural excellence in addressing the project.
Overall, the City seeks creative approaches to fulfilling the overall objectives and key elements of the Art Center Project. Firms with experience in design and construction of adaptive reuse and/or civic spaces are encouraged to submit qualifications for consideration. Likewise, firms with demonstrated experience with management of these types of assets are encouraged to participate and submit their qualifications. The City also strongly encourages the formation of partnerships of qualified firms to deliver the Art Center design, construction and operations in a turn-key arrangement, if possible.
For more information, please visit our website at http://www.emeryville.org/1203/Art-Center-Request-for-Qualification-and, or contact Emi Theriault, Community ad Economic Development Coordinator, at 510-596-4357.