EAST HARLEM COMMERCIAL RFP PROPOSAL Q&A

Transcription

1 EAST HARLEM COMMERCIAL RFP PROPOSAL Q&A Q: Are proposals for sale or ground lease of the land? A: Proposals should be for a ground lease of the land. Q: What lease term should we propose? A: You may submit a response with your desired lease term not to exceed 99 years. Q: Should the proposed rent include the development rights? A: The proposed lease rents must include the Site (i.e. vacant land), and the proposed lease rents can include up to 28,000 square feet ( SF ) of development rights, if the development rights are needed. Q: What are the parking requirements for the Site? A: Parking requirements are as per the Zoning Resolution. The Site is readily accessible by public transportation. It is located one block from the 4, 5, and 6 subway stop at 125th Street and Lexington Avenue. Q: What is the timeline for selection? A: The submission deadline is March 17, Evaluation of responses and negotiations will follow. We will not be able to adequately judge how long selection will take until we know how many proposals we receive. EDC may negotiate with more than one respondent simultaneously. Q: What approvals will be needed? A: Depending on the submissions, the following approvals may be necessary: City Environmental Quality Review Business Term Approval: UDAAP or City Charter Section 384(b)(4) NYCLDC & NYCEDC Board of Directors Approvals Q: What are the sustainability requirements of the RFP? A: LEED Silver Certification. More specifics are in the RFP Appendix I - E125 POA. Q: Do you have a survey? A: We do not have a current survey of the Site. 1

2 Q: Please explain the Local Retail requirement? A: There must be 5,000 SF of space reserved for Local Retail for the entire term of the lease. More specifics are in the RFP Appendix I - E125 POA. Q: What is Local Retail? How do you define Below Market Rent? A: Local Retail is space that is leased to a Locally Owned Business at Below Market Rent. The terms Locally Owned Business and Below Market Rent are defined in the RFP Appendix I - E125 POA. A Locally Owned Business is defined therein to include a resident or an owner of a local business currently operating in or from Manhattan CB 11, CB 10, CB 12, CB 9 and Bronx CB 1. Market Rent is the rent that a retail space without restrictions would command on the open market considering its location, features and amenities. Below Market Rent means 30% below Market Rent or as otherwise specified in the E125 POA. By way of example, if Market Rent is $100, Below Market Rent would be 30%*$100 or $70. Q: Can non-retail uses satisfy the Local Retail requirement? A: Non-retail, job-generating commercial uses operated by Locally Owned Businesses may be allowed in certain situations. Please provide a detailed description of the non-retail commercial intended use and number of jobs generated by that use. Q: Are there any required commercial or community facilities or obligations? A: At least 5,000 SF of retail space must be reserved for Local Retail. In addition, there should be a contribution to the Local Investment Fund of at least $1,000,000. More specifics are in the RFP Appendix I - E125 POA. Q: What are the selection criteria? A: We will select proposals based on Emerging Developer categorization, completeness and quality of overall response, program and design, financial and schedule feasibility, hiring and workforce programs, respondents qualifications and experience and economic impact. Q: How will the selection criterion be weighted? Will preference be given to proposals with certain elements such as community facilities? Or the greatest lease payment? A: There is no weighting of the criterion; we look at proposals holistically based on the Selection Criteria. Q: Can you circulate the list of RFP information session attendees? A: The RFP information session attendees are posted online. 2

3 PLANNING & DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM Q: What is the current zoning and FAR? A: The current zoning is C6-3. These districts have a commercial floor area ratio (FAR) of 6.0 and a community facility FAR of ,000 SF of additional development rights from the adjacent site are available for inclusion in proposals. Q: The RFP mentioned life sciences, a hotel, etc., can you speak to that? A: The RFP mentions retail, life sciences, hotel, small or creative office as potential uses that complement the Site. Other commercial uses are also welcome; however, any proposed use should meet the City s goals of fostering economic opportunity and job creation in the East Harlem area. Dwelling units are not possible on the Site. Q: What environmental conditions exist on the Site? Is any remediation required? A: Phase I and II environmental assessments were done in The information is available in the Site File. Q: What are Emerging Developers? A: NYCEDC has not established strict criteria for Respondents to qualify as Emerging Developers, but has formulated the following guidelines to help prospective Respondents assess whether they would be considered an Emerging Developer: o Total development cost of each of Respondent s individual projects is less than $30 million; o Residential unit count of any individual project is less than 150 and total square footage of each of Respondent s projects does not exceed 100,000 SF; o Respondent has completed construction of fewer than 10 projects within the past 10 years; and o Respondent has experience completing projects in New York City or other urban areas If a Respondent believes it should be categorized as an Emerging Developer (whether or not it meets the criteria set forth above), please provide additional rationale. Q: Is there any way to pre-qualify for the Emerging Developer criteria rather than wait until the RFP is submitted? A: No. However, if a Respondent believes it should be categorized as an Emerging Developer (whether or not it meets the criteria set forth in the RFP), please provide additional rationale. 3

4 Q: Will you be looking at the partnership agreement to see the role of the Emerging Developer in the case of co-development? A: If a partnership or joint venture is proposed between entities, the entities must submit details of the arrangement by providing a copy of the joint venture agreement that confirms the Emerging Developer s profit share and role within the development (e.g. limited partner, general partner, provisions regarding project control and major decisions). Q: Can the ownership structure contemplate multiple commercial condo units, one of which is not owned by the Emerging Developer? A: This ownership structure would be considered; however, Emerging Developer must play a significant role in the ownership of the overall Project. If this ownership structure is proposed, please submit details of the arrangement for consideration. Q: Please describe the E125 Development Program? A: E125 is expected to contain up to 1,000 residential units, 770,000 SF of commercial space, 30,000 SF of community facilities, and open space. All housing units will be on Parcels B and C. Parcel C has been fully developed and contains 48 units of affordable housing. Parcel C was also developed with 5,600 SF of commercial space that is currently tenanted by a Perkins Restaurant. A portion of Parcel A (Block 1791, lot 1) was sold to the developer of the New York Proton Center in July 2015 to build a cancer treatment facility which is expected to be operational in The remaining commercial space has not been developed or tenanted. FINANCING Q: Will financial support or tax abatements be provided to the project? A: Certain tools may be available. More specifics are in the RFP Financing section. Respondents may access abatement programs that would otherwise be available but for the City s ownership of the property. Q: What is the City s target return? A: There is not a target return. HIRING AND WAGE Q: How specific does the hiring program proposal needs to be? A: Respondents should state their hiring plan and the specific strategies that they will 4

5 employ to make sure they meet the hiring goals. More specifics are in the RFP Appendices B and D HireNYC: Permanent Program and HireNYC: Development Program. Q: Is there an additional incentive or benefit to the developer for surpassing the 35% M/WBE goal? A: Developers should propose the highest appropriate M/WBE goal they can support on this project within the proposed range. If the proposer believes that a higher goal outside of the range can be achieved, they can propose such a goal. However, goals above the range will not receive preferential consideration. Q: If one of our entities is a certified M/WBE contractor in New Jersey, do we get credit for the M/WBE participation goal if the same entity is GC? A: No, all M/WBE firms participating on this project must be certified by New York City Department of Small Business Services to credit such firm s participation toward attainment of the Participation Goal. Such certification must occur prior to the firms commencement of work. A list of M/WBE firms may be obtained from the DSBS website at Additionally, potential M/WBEs can visit to learn more about becoming certified. 5