UNT Board of Regents awards construction contract for Eagle Point projects

In a Sept. 19 teleconference, UNT System regents awarded the construction manager-at-risk contract for current projects on the Eagle Point Campus to Austin Commercial. A construction manager at risk is the contractor selected as the best qualified to guarantee a maximum price for construction work on the project. Current Eagle Point Campus projects are Victory Hall, a 600-bed residence hall; a dining hall; and the shell structure of an athletic center.

Additionally, the regents increased construction funding for the three projects by $2 million (from $30,512,746 to $32,512,746). The total cost is now $37.8 million with additional funding to come from institutional funds that will be repaid by the housing department.

The actions were approved by the Board of Regents' Facilities Committee and forwarded to the full board for final approval two days earlier.

Austin Commercial built UNT's Gateway Center and recently completed the Student Recreation Center. The firm is the general contractor for the new Chemistry Building, now under construction.

Another firm, Turner Construction, is working on the pre-construction services portion of the manager-at-risk contract, including site preparation, but the overall contract will go to Austin Commercial because UNT did not accept Turner's guaranteed maximum price proposal.

UNT System Chancellor Lee Jackson says the revised contract will provide the best value in total cost and offers the greatest assurance of timely completion of Victory Hall and the dining facility by the beginning of the 2004 academic year.

The current construction schedule calls for building to begin this month.

BY RODDY WOLPER rwolper@unt.edu

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