The City of Fresno’s Downtown and Revitalization Department has made an announcement on the consultant it selected to complete the Downtown and Neighborhood Specific Plans. The announcement came through a note from department director Craig Scharton on the Department Facebook page. See full announcement below.
On Friday we announced that we have selected a team for the Fulton Corridor Specific Plan and Downtown Neighborhoods Community Plan. We still have to negotiate a contract with the firm. Then the contract will go to the City Council for approval.
The process to select the team was very thorough. We did a Request for Qualifications and read through twenty responses. Six were selected from that group. The six teams met in Fresno for an overview (lunch as Mezcal) and a walk down the Fulton Mall. They had a 2 hour FAX bus tour through the rest of downtown and the surrounding neighborhoods: Southwest, Jane Addams, Lowell, Jefferson and Southeast. The finished their day with a chance to network with local firms and professionals in the Sky Room at the Holiday Inn.
The submitted written responses to a much more detailed Request for Proposals. The Teams presented to a group of stakeholders made up of building owners, business owners and residents. They also presented to a group of City department representatives. The consensus choice is a led by a firm from Pasadena, Moule and Polyzoides (http://www.mparchitects.com).
We hope to have them in town for the first Council meeting in November.
See you at the DRUM meeting Wednesday evening.
Craig
Moule & Polyzoides, Architects and Urbanists has there office in Pasadena. It is led by principals
Stefanos Polyzoides and Elizabeth Moule. An 2005 indepth interview with Polyzoides can be found on www.terrain.org Most notable, both principals where founding members of the Congress for New Urbanism.
Of the 20 firms had submitted to the RFQ, the 6 firms shortlisted to submit more detailed proposals were:
Hall Alminana Incorporated (with Johnson Architecture as local liaison)
MIG (with Joe Moore & designlab 252 as local liaisons)
Moule & Polyzoides with Impact Sciences
Opticos Design, Inc. with Dover, Kohl & Partners
*this list may not represent the entire team include on the 6 proposals.
We will continue to follow the Downtown and Neighborhood Specific Plans as they develop.
Details about DRUM meeting Craig referenced in his note:
Join us at the next casual, lively, quarterly Downtown Revitalization Update Meeting sponsored by the City of Fresno’s Downtown and Community Revitalization Department. The DRUM takes place this coming Wednesday, October 21, at 5:30 pm at the Downtown Club at 2120 Kern Street in Fresno.
Related article:
Downtown Citizens Committee appointments announced
So…what are your thoughts on the selection Kiel?
Oh, I left that part out didn’t I? I don’t have much more to go off of other than online research.
I had sent a list of pertinent questions to the 6 short listed firms. However, the City of Fresno had asked them not to respond to media inquiries until after a selection was made.
I have contacted Elizabeth Moule and she is more that willing to correspond after they have an agreement/contract in place.
I don’t have enough information for a comprehensive opinion. But I will say that all 6 shortlisted firms seem qualified.
One of my main curiosities is what local lesion or presence Moule & Polyzoides will have.
Why is this consultant report supposed to be any differnent that the other dozen or more reports done over the past twenty years?
The big difference is that this is a specific plan. Specific plans are binding planning & development documents. All those others plans were studies that had recommendation but nothing legally binding.
Great pick for task at hand! I am familiar with their work.
I commend the choice.