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According to information in the paper, that is about what the cost of the as yet unused garbage sorting station is. 9.1 million dollars for 20,000 square feet.
Does anyone know what is in there to justify this? Lots of conveyor belts, motors, sensors and complex controls? Or is the building just a shell?
Jerry
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That question popped into my mind immediately too. Based on a number of other budgeted projects I've examined I'm inclined to think it is "local style" pricing.
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Davis Bacon wages, perhaps?
"I like yard sales," he said. "All true survivalists like yard sales."
Kurt Wilson
"I like yard sales," he said. "All true survivalists like yard sales."
Kurt Wilson
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I took a tour of it recently, it is just a shell. Imagine by disbelief. That is the problem with unions today, they need to go immediately. If only private companies got to bid on it, you could of gotten it for around $70 per square, imao.
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Not to disagree but remember a commercial bldg also has to have the energy stuff done by the engineers that SFR's dont - that adds a small amount (but not $300/SF). They also have to have a septic suited to commercial bldgs. That adds in cost for engineering. They also have to pay for a grading plan. (An example is one on 8 rd near the CA in Hi Acres ran $6K for 3 acres.)
$400+/sf seems unreasonable at first glance but they also have more ADA requirements to meet.
What does the $455/SF include like Rob asked?
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If you watch the contract amounts for publicly financed buildings there is a pattern of the contracts going for over twice the understood value. Hilo High gym.... $818 psf. Remodel the Aupuni Center $550 psf. Pave the parking lot at the county offices = $4.5 million. It's not too hard to see what is going on. The taxpayers are being milked.
Assume the best and ask questions.
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I was looking recently at projects being put out for bids by the County. There was one project that was removing two pavilions, one at Kolekole beach park and a similar one in another park. This was only for removal of two pavilions. Each was about 40'x40', concrete slab, metal roof. And the estimated cost for this project, $300,000!!!!! That's right. Removal only.
There is also a project out for bids now for a bus stop behind Macy's near the Panda Express. I can't wait to see what this turns out to be for an estimated price of $45,000!!!
It seems to me that there must be some type of agreement between the huge construction firms to keep those bids really high. You know someone is making a boatload of money off those projects.
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Another cute example:
ADA curb cuts. On Oahu the curb ramps at corners were costing $8,000 ea. On Maui they were $6,000 ea. Here in Hilo they were $35,000 ea. It doesn't take that much thought to see what is the common way of doing business in the county with procurement.
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quote:
Originally posted by Rob Tucker
ADA curb cuts. On Oahu the curb ramps at corners were costing $8,000 ea. On Maui they were $6,000 ea. Here in Hilo they were $35,000 ea. It doesn't take that much thought to see what is the common way of doing business in the county with procurement.
Interesting. I know here on the mainland a curb cut project was bid (5 intersections, 4 corners, sweep cut for both directions) the cost per unit came to about $5,500 per corner from non-regional companies, but $3,250 from local contractors. Surprisingly, the largest non construction cost was traffic mitigation, the cost to set up barriers, police presence, and similar items). The majority of former contracts were all on the high end until a local contracting firm formed a contracting co-op with other smaller local companies and were able to underbid the large state/national companies. Do you know who bid on this versus who could do it but didn't bid? Working to enable smaller local companies to compete and bid on these projects has enabled many communities in the US to start reducing cost. Often it’s nothing more than the requirements that put on the company that places smaller local companies at a disadvantage.
As for the larger project, you need to know if that is the construction/build out contract cost for the project or the total cost of the project. Remember, government is not like the private customer. You can tailor a proposal to favor a particular company or you can decide who to pick based on who goes to what church. You can make changes at will without regard to those bidding on the project. But government has to issue proposals that are neutral of any favoritism and that can add cost because you have to make it a level field. Often just trying to be fair comes at a higher price. And it is that fairness over low cost that the people demand in procurement. So a detailed breakdown of the cost mentioned really is needed to form any opinion.
