OWNER'S REPRESENTATIVE SERVICES
RESTORATION, RENOVATION, AND ADDITION:
LAMAR HOUSE HOTEL / BIJOU THEATRE
Submission Deadline: Friday, November 17, 2023 at 4:00PM EST
PROJECT OVERVIEW
The Bijou Theatre is seeking Owner Representative services for the restoration, renovation, and addition of the Lamar House Hotel / Bijou Theatre in downtown Knoxville. The selected Owner Representative should have (i) significant project management and/or owner representative experience; (ii) construction experience with historic structures, public gathering facilities, or other related buildings; and (iii) familiarity with projects involving federal funding and/or historic tax credits.
BACKGROUND/HISTORY and PROJECT DESCRIPTION
The Lamar House Hotel/Bijou Theatre is located at 803 South Gay Street, at the corner of Cumberland Avenue, in downtown Knoxville, Tennessee. The building was constructed in multiple phases. Lamar House was completed as a Georgian-style building in 1817, enlarged with two additions to the rear of the building in 1850-52, and substantially remodeled with the construction of the Bijou Theatre in 1909 (which replaced the earlier hotel additions and necessitated removal of the central bays of Lamar House to accommodate the theater’s lobby). Although considerable change has occurred within Lamar House, the theater remains largely intact and reflective of its period of construction. Lamar House Hotel / Bijou Theatre was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1975. Presently, the Bijou functions as a performing arts center with seating for 750, with the Lamar House Hotel providing support space for theater operations.
Primary objectives for the project include:
- Renovate the second balcony in the auditorium. This historic part of the building will once again be utilized and permit additional balcony seating, increasing the theatre’s capacity while also telling the story of this significant space.
- Renovate and utilize the fourth floor of the Lamar House & Bijou Theatre, an area of the building that has not been touched in more than 50 years. Once addressed, this floor will provide access to the second balcony and improved office facilities for the Bijou’s staff.
- Renovate the third floor of the Lamar House & Bijou Theatre into a multi-use space to increase our programming capacity and allow us to provide accommodations for educational initiatives, black box performances, and receptions.
- Renovate and create additional lobby spaces to improve the patron experience, including creating better flow in and out of the auditorium, increasing the number and comfort of bathrooms, relocating the box office for expedited service, and adding bar spaces to reduce wait times.
- Renovate the third floor of the Lamar House & Bijou Theatre into a multi-use space to increase our programming capacity and allow us to provide accommodations for educational initiatives, black box performances, and receptions.
- Renovate and create additional lobby spaces to improve the patron experience, including creating better flow in and out of the auditorium, increasing the number and comfort of bathrooms, relocating the box office for expedited service, and adding bar spaces to reduce wait times.
OWNER’S REPRESENTATIVE SERVICES:
The selected owner representative is expected to assist the Bijou during the remaining design phases and manage and oversee the construction process. The selected Owner Representative is expected to coordinate with the various parties, including the Bijou staff and Board, architects, engineers, general contractors, subcontractors, community stakeholders, regulatory authorities, utility providers, and others. The selected Owner Representative is expected to serve as an advocate for THE BIJOU and protect the best interests of the Bijou Theatre.
Owner Representative tasks include, but are not limited to, these:
- Predevelopment work remaining until closing, (i) provide construction expertise to the Bijou and MHM relating to the constructability of the current Project design, (ii) review the DD cost estimates provided by the construction firm and assist in value engineering, if necessary, (iii) assist in utility coordination with KUB (iv) assist the Bijou and MHM in re-platting, property lines/easements, and permitting, (v) develop a comprehensive project budget that includes all Project-related hard and soft costs, and (vi) working with the contractor who will include assisting and preparing general contractor bid documents (e.g., scope of work, bid requirements, labor and wage assumptions, et cetera), reviewing bids and providing a recommendation on the lowest, qualified bid.
- Provide complete project management services, including phasing and scheduling; establish project milestones/reporting schedules; review and monitor progress against budget; track potential cost changes and change orders; and monitor compliance with all contract terms.
- During construction, visit the site weekly to inspect work in progress and notify the owner, architect, and general contractor(s) of any defective work or other issues under the construction contract.
- Inspect completed projects with the architect and coordinate with the general contractor to facilitate the satisfactory completion of all work.
- Work with general contractors, engineers, architects, et cetera on permitting issues and obtaining certificates of occupancy.
- Project oversight.
- Analyze alternative courses of action for unforeseen conditions such as materials shortages, work stoppages, and accidents if they occur.
- Assist with the evaluation/selection process and awarding contracts to general contractors.
- Facilitate biweekly project meetings with contractor, architect, and owner, and attend other meetings about the project as needed.
- Evaluate the performance of the general contractor, subcontractors, architects, and engineers as needed and as appropriate.
- Review and approve monthly payment requests from architects, engineers, general contractors, etc., and provide recommendations to the owner.
- Review and approve requests for change orders and recommend them (when appropriate) to the Bijou.
- Prepare monthly construction reports and address to (i) the Bijou and (ii) the project lender (if requested).”
- Coordinate the project with the Bijou’s fundraising efforts.