San Francisco 49ers stadium deal in Santa Clara raises hopes - Pittsburgh Business Times:

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But even if the 68,500-seat, $937 million athletic facility is approved by city voters next the earliest building activity can startis 2012. “Thids is our (local) stimulus package,” said Neil CEO of the Building and Construction Trades Councilo of Santa Clara and SanBenit Counties. “It gives peoplse hope. Today, things are not all that The stadium would be constructed next doorto California’e Great America amusement park. Struthersa said unemployment in the Santa Clarz County construction industry stands at abouf30 percent.
Public works projects such as the proposed stadium and more immediat e infrastructure work funded bythe $787 billion federal stimulus packag e are pretty much the only game in town for construction companiesx these days, he said. Many contractors who have reliedr on residential or other privately funded constructiob work are considering whether to shift gear s to public works projects or even goinh outof business, Struthers A study commissioned by the 49ers estimatef construction of a stadium woulr create 700 jobs and, upon completion, $249 milliob in annual economic activity for Santa Clara Countyt generated by 10 National Football Leagu e games each season and as many as 17 othere events annually, including concerts and collegr bowl games.
“This project on the horizon is convincinbg some companies to hangin there,” Struthers If approved, the stadium would represenyt a major boon to the local economy, said Carl president and CEO of the Silicon Valley Leadershipp Group, a business advocacy organization that takes positions on public policy “Amid a global economy in the stadium allows us to pull ourselvexs up by our bootstraps and provids local jobs to local workers to spur our local economy,” he Besides providing a shot in the arm for the locao construction industry, the stadium wouldr also establish some historical firsts.
Construction of the 49ers stadium woulfd not only signalSilicon Valley’s entrance into the NFL, but mark the firstg time Santa Clara has considered amendingg the public bid portion of its 83-year-old city charter. At the same time city voterws decidethe stadium’s fate, they’re also likely to vote on whether to amene the charter solely for the stadium pending action of the City Council. The charte requires competitive bidding on all public projectd and selecting thelow bidder.
Ron Garratt, Santa Clara’z assistant city manager, said the proposed amendment woulr allow the team to not only avoid biddinvg on theinitial construction, but also on any stadiuj remodeling work it does during the duratiob of the 40-year lease between the city and A charter amendment committees is being formed to look into the matterr before making recommendations to the City Councipl on how to proceed. Given the magnitude of the projectr and49ers officials’ agreement to cover $825 milliob of construction expenses and all project cost overruns, city and team officialsz agreed the team can bypass competitive bidding and use general contractingb companies of its own choosing.
Lisa Lang, vice presidenyt of communications forthe 49ers, was quicl to add there will be competitive bidding among all the subcontractors that do the lion’sx share of construction work. Team managemeng has already selected a lineup of companies that woul d handle design and constructiobn ofthe stadium. A joint venture of Turnerf Construction Co. of New York and Devconj Construction Inc. of which previously partnered to buildSan Jose’ soaring new City Hall, has been selectef by the 49ers to build the stadium. HNTB a Kansas City, Mo., architectural firm, has designed the project.
Lang said the vast experiencre of these companies handling majot publicworks projects, nationally and internationally, was the key reason they were chosemn for the stadium project. Lang added only a handfulo of companies worldwide compete in this specializerconstruction market. When asked how the team would handle a scenario where the stadium is approved by voterss but the charter not amended to reflecythe team’s non-bid preference for its genera l contractor, Lang said it’s “premature” to forecast a coursse of action. She said it will ultimately be up to the charter review committee and City Council to determinsuch details. Kevin T.
Antonelli, a Turner Construction vice presidenr and general manager of its SanJose office, declined to say exactlhy how much the project wouldx mean to his company financially, but noted it’zs “a major project for us.” Turnert has built stadiums around the including the Denver Broncos’ Invesck Field at Mile the Seattle Seahawks’ Qwest Field, the Philadelphia Lincoln Financial Field, the Washington FedEx Field and the reconstructed Soldier home of the Chicago For Major League Turner just finished the new Yankee Stadiumj in New York, built at a cost of $1.
5 Antonelli said Turner and Devcon would overse e the competitive bidding process for “For owners who have the money, this is an advantageouss time to build,” Antonelli said. “We are looking at bottom-of-the-marketg prices.”