[Consultantservices] [Consultant Services] RFP posted Thursday, August 02, 2007 12:43 PM

[Grace Williams]

AICP has adopted the following policy:

The AICP Commission requests that entities soliciting planning
consultants follow a two-part RFQ/RFP selection procedure. Click here to
read a description of such a two-part process in PAS Report 443,
Selecting and Retaining a Planning Consultant: RFPs, RFQs, Contracts,
and Project Management, by Eric Damian Kelly, FAICP. To view more
excerpts from the report, click here.

Please send RFPs & RFQs to websitefeedback at planning.org.

Request for Proposals - Consultant Services

Calhoun Street-East/Cooper River Waterfront Special Area Master Plan
City of Charleston, South Carolina 
Submittal deadline: September 1, 2007

The City of Charleston's Department of Planning, Preservation, and
Economic Innovation has the goal of completing a special area master
plan for the Calhoun Street-East/Cooper River Waterfront Area of the
City. The Master Plan shall build upon the Downtown Master Plan that was
adopted in November 23, 1999, and the Calhoun St. Corridor Plan for the
area along Calhoun Street from Marion Square to the Cooper Riverfront
(see Exhibit A). The Master Plan will be completed through input from
the Charleston community and with the assistance of a team of
consultants experienced in downtown design, planning and creating a
diverse, growing local economy. 

The Master Plan develops a long-range vision for the future of the study
area. 
The Master Plan recommendations will relate to the following seven major
strategies for the future, each of which contains important steps in
implementing the Master Plan. 

A. Purpose 
The City of Charleston, South Carolina is seeking consultants or
consultant teams to develop a comprehensive special area master plan for
the area along Calhoun Street from Marion Square to the Cooper
Riverfront (see Exhibit A). The plan will help determine the Downtown
market niche, examine current zoning/development standards and the
appropriateness thereof, make recommendations on how to energize the
study area, examine the current application of the City's Visitor and
Accommodations Zone with respect to the study area, recommend physical
improvements, and provide a marketing plan to attract new investment and
consumers to the study area. The Master Plan will be used as a guide for
establishing policies and priorities for coordinated
development/redevelopment, land use planning, and budgetary preparation.
It will include policy statements, goals, objectives, guidelines, maps
and graphics that will serve as a foundation for future land use
decisions. It should serve as both a guide and the impetus for an
anticipated update to the City's Zoning, Land Use, and Development
Ordinances. The plan shall provide strategies and goals to encourage
economic development, quality residential and commercial growth, and
general improvements for the protection of the quality of life for
Charleston's residents and businesses. At last, the plan shall evaluate
previous Visitor Accommodation Studies and Tourism Management Plans and
the appropriateness of visitor and accommodations uses within the study
area. It will incorporate elements such as a Land Use Schematic;
Development and Infill Development and Redevelopment Strategies; a
Directional and Location Signage Plan, a Parking Plan, and associated
policies and guidelines.

B. Scope of Work 
The consultants will provide the following services to the City of
Charleston. The consultants will conduct a physical master plan for the
study area that will include the following: 

*	Conceptual urban design plan for the study area that will
identify new development and redevelopment opportunities, public spaces,
vehicular and pedestrian traffic enhancements, links to surrounding
neighborhoods, and other items as needed. 
*	Identification of a parking management strategy including a
supply and demand analysis of existing and future parking needs based on
development activity in the community. 
*	Identification of priorities and recommendations for phasing of
improvements. The Consultants will identify sites within the study area
that have development or re-development potential. The consultants will
document these sites and with the assistance of city staff, compile
information regarding property ownership, parcel size, building square
footage, assessed value, and other pertinent information. The
consultants will assess the market orientation, reuse potential, and
site design elements of these sites and identify potential future uses
based on the market and development trend information. 
*	The consultant will assist the City in identifying the study
area's market niche and develop an advertising and marketing theme and
strategy that addresses the study area's current needs and desired
target markets. This advertising and marketing strategy must be able to
be feasibly implemented within the budgetary and staffing constraints of
the City of Charleston and its Downtown business partners. 
*	The consultant shall provide strategies and goals to encourage
and promote existing and future economic development, quality
residential and commercial growth, and general improvements for the
protection of the quality of life for Charleston's residents and
businesses via an economic feasibility/market analysis. 
*	The consultant will interview key players located in, or
associated with, the study area in order to understand the physical,
market and organizational forces that are shaping Downtown
Charleston/study area. Public officials, Downtown merchants, key
property owners, real estate brokers, staff representatives from and the
Charleston Metro Chamber of Commerce, neighborhood associations,
preservation organizations, local arts groups and other key Downtown
stakeholders will be interviewed. The consultant will develop an
implementation strategy that identifies organizational strategies,
funding mechanisms, and time frames for physical improvements and
marketing programs. 
*	The consultant will recommend zoning text amendments, zoning map
amendments, and design standards and guidelines. These amendments and
guidelines will be based on principals of traditional urban design
appropriate to Charleston. The amended code will include a visual
component and design based on current and future function and land use
specific to identified corridors and neighborhoods. This can be prepared
either by a graphic designer on staff with the consultant or by a
graphic design firm on the consultant's team. 

C. Community Involvement 
The City of Charleston holds community involvement as the integral
ingredient to a successful plan. Submitting firms should provide a
methodology for community participation that allows for the active
involvement of City Council, the local business community, and the
citizens of Charleston. The consultant should plan to utilize local
television stations and World Wide Web site to disseminate information
to the public. The City of Charleston will provide coordination of
meetings and a staff contact for the duration of the project. 

D. Schedule 
Submittals should include a proposed schedule for the project, including
timelines for receipt of the deliverable items listed in Section B
above. The City would prefer that the project be completed within three
(3) to five (5) months of the approval of the contract for the project. 

To receive complete RFP please contact Sandra Reed, 843-724-3765 or
reedsa at ci.charleston.sc.us. To facilitate the clarification of
requirements, proposers are requested, if possible, to submit questions
in writing by August 15, 2007. Please submit your questions to: 

	Josh Martin, Director
	Dept. of Planning, Preservation, and Economic Innovation 
	City of Charleston 
	75 Calhoun Street 
	Charleston, South Carolina 29401 
	Telephone (843) 958-6473 
	martinj at ci.charleston.sc.us

Please submit qualifications and related documents by September 1, 2007.
All submittals will be reviewed by a City-appointed Selection Committee.
The most qualified candidates will be short-listed and notified by
September 15, 2007. These selected candidates will be invited to
interview and make a more detailed presentation before the Selection
Committee.

 

 

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