LOCAL INITIATIVES SUPPORT CORPORATION INTRODUCTION: REQUEST FOR QUALIFICATIONS FOR COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT PROJECT MANAGER The Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) is dedicated to helping nonprofit community development organizations transform distressed neighborhoods into healthy and sustainable communities. These communities are good places to work, do business and raise children. LISC mobilizes corporate, government and philanthropic support to provide local community development corporations with loans, grants and equity investments; local, statewide and national policy support; and technical and management assistance. LISC is a national organization with a community focus and has offices in 31 cities with numerous national programs. LISC s strategy, Building Sustainable Communities (BSC), seeks to revitalize neighborhoods and improve the quality of life for families who live there. To accomplish this, LISC works in five focus areas: expanding investment in housing and other real estate, increasing family income and wealth, stimulating economic development, improving access to education, and supporting healthy environments and lifestyles. Detroit LISC in 2011 launched the next evolutionary phase of BSC to focus on smaller geographical areas in three target neighborhoods in Detroit. This phase will build upon previous successes and placed stronger emphasis on resident engagement through the Quality of Life planning process which is now completed. The resident driven Quality of Life plans will serve as the blueprints for how financial and technical resources are committed in 2012 and beyond. In addition, Detroit LISC supports city-wide efforts aimed at increasing family income and wealth and community safety initiatives. Detroit LISC also offers financing and technical assistance in five designated investment areas around the city. SITUATION: Due to recent economic conditions, community development organizations have reduced staff as a result of budget constraints. This has led to a reduction in overall in house capacity/expertise to initiate and complete development projects in the community. More recently, an increasing number of development opportunities are presenting themselves due to the growing number of vacant and abandoned structures. Many community development organizations have plans to develop these vacant properties to make them a viable and useful part of the community, however, they often lack the expertise/ skills needed to determine a project s feasibility and assemble a package in order to move the project forward. Page 1 of 5
PURPOSE: This Request for Qualifications (RFQ) is intended to seek experienced project managers to work with neighborhood organizations working in Detroit LISC BSC and Investment Areas to help move development projects forward. Specifically, the project manager will review potential neighborhood projects to determine feasibility, assemble a funding package (including a budget, sources and uses and proforma) and identify a potential development team for presentation to potential funders. Detroit LISC may elect to work with one or more project manager consultants on various community development projects in its service area going forward. TARGET AUDIENCE: The target audiences are primarily neighborhoods served by Detroit LISC s three BSC convening agencies in addition to other neighborhood community groups working in one of the Detroit LISC s Investment Areas. 1) Primary focus will be given to Detroit LISC s three Convening Agencies (CA): Vanguard Community Development Corporation (Grand Woodward neighborhood), Grandmont Rosedale Development Corporation (Grandmont Rosedale neighborhood) and Urban Neighborhoods Initiative (Springwells Village neighborhood). Each of the neighborhoods have completed a Quality of Life planning process and have identified specific strategies/action items in the areas of: Jobs and Economic Development, Safety and Neighborhood Beautification, Education, Housing, Health and Wellness and Neighborhood Development/ Improvement. 2) Secondary focus will be in Detroit LISC s larger investment areas including Grandmont Rosedale, North End, Southwest Detroit, North East and Lower and Far East. 3) Citywide with a focus on Detroit Future City strategies. TASKS TO BE ACCOMPLISHED: This RFQ is being issued to professional consultants with expertise in community development project management. The ideal candidate will have experience and success in the following areas: Working with for-profit and/or non profit developers/ organizations, and have assembled packages for single family or multi-family residential or commercial projects in Detroit Determining a project s feasibility Assembling a successful development team and attending/ participating in meetings Assembling successful development packages including sources and uses, development budgets and project proformas Successfully utilizing development tools and public and private resources that promote affordability (NEZ, HOME, etc.) Managing a development project utilizing software and/or other automated tools Managing construction companies and contractors Successfully utilizing financial strategists Assisting to identify project sources of funding Page 2 of 5
Assess the status and feasibility of various projects in the neighborhood Familiarizing oneself with the organization s BSC Quality of Life Plan Meet and convene with the CDC and its partners to assess each project and its needs Oversees all aspects of putting the project together from beginning to end Sets deadlines, assigns responsibilities and monitors/summarizes project progress Prepares reports for LISC and management regarding the status of the project Is familiar with a variety of the community development field s concepts, practices and procedures Relies on extensive experience and judgment to plan and accomplish project goals Meet compliance requirements with federal funds Consultant will work for LISC and must be able to evaluate, validate, and/or help define the client s discrete project needs. There must be an element of knowledge transfer in the engagement. The consultant must leave a written document of next steps and tasks for the organization to follow long-term or post consultation intervention. REQUIRED PROPOSAL FORMAT: 1) COVER/FACE SHEET please see attached. This section of the proposal should include the consultant s name, legal name of the consultant s business, mailing and e-mail address, phone and fax number, and website if available. It should state the type of RFQ to which the consultant is responding (found in the heading of the RFQ). It should list the number of pages enclosed with the proposal. It should also include how the consultant heard about the Detroit LISC RFQ. 2) STATEMENT OF QUALIFICATIONS This section of the proposal should describe the general capacity of the respondent and should contain the following: a. An overview of the respondent s background, expertise with community-based development organizations and indicate an understanding of general issues that face Detroit area community development organizations. b. Identification of key individuals who will be providing the technical assistance, including a description of their proposed assignments and the skills they bring that are appropriate to the assignments. Please attach a resume if available. c. The proposed structure of the technical assistance, particularly the management and capability of carrying out the assignment. Include methodology to ensure knowledge sharing and information transfer. Page 3 of 5
d. Availability -- demonstrated ability to complete the scope of work within a specified time frame. e. The name, addresses, and phone numbers of three references for the respondent, who can comment on the respondent s qualifications for the technical assistance based on previous experience as clients for the respondent on similar tasks. 3) COST PROPOSAL: In this section, the respondent should provide a cost breakdown for the proposed hourly costs with appropriate explanatory detail and justifying costs and calculations. SELECTION PROCESS All proposals will be reviewed by LISC staff and will be acknowledged within 48 hours of the receipt of all of the required copies (see details below). CONDITIONS AND LIMITATIONS 1. This RFQ is a request for the submittal of proposals, but it is not an offer and under no circumstances will be construed as an offer of a contract. 2. Detroit LISC reserves the right to modify or withdraw this RFQ at any time, regardless of whether proposals have been submitted. 3. Detroit LISC is not under any obligation to select any of the proposals it receives in response to this RFQ and may reject any or all proposals prior to entering into a written contract. 4. There are no enforceable obligations of any kind against LISC as a result of this RFQ, and until a written contract is executed, there will be no enforceable obligations against LISC. 5. Detroit LISC will not reimburse the respondents for any costs associated with the preparation and submission of responses to this RFQ or during contract negotiations. 6. Respondents waive all rights to protest or seek remedies regarding any aspect of this RFQ, the selection of respondents for negotiations, and the rejection of any or all proposals. 7. All responses to this RFQ become the property of LISC. 8. Detroit LISC will not share with anyone the texts of the proposals from respondent not selected, except any external reviewers involved in the selection process. RESPONSES Responses to this RFQ are due on April 29, 2013 by 5:00 p.m. and delivered to the following address: Page 4 of 5
Anthony Batiste, Program Officer Local Initiatives Support Corporation 660 Woodward Ave., Suite 1600 Detroit, Michigan 48226 Email: abatiste@lisc.org Respondents must submit one electronic copy plus two hard copies of their proposal, including any supplementary attachments. The electronic copy must answer all questions in the RFQ. All copies must be submitted by the due date and will not be considered complete until all copies are submitted. Page 5 of 5