Administrative Procurement Branch, Environmental Protection Agency, Fairchild Building -- 7th Floor, 499 S. Capital Street, S.W., Washington, DC 20024

R -- INTERIOR DESIGN AND SPACE PLANNING SERVICES FOR NEW EPA HEADQUARTERS BUILDING SOL 97-1234 POC Oliver Voss, C.O., 202-260-9030; Tom Valentino, C.S., 202-260-1252 E-MAIL: click here to contact the contracting officer via email, voss.oliver@epamail.epa.gov. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has an ongoing requirement to provide interior design and space planning services for the EPA's new Headquarters office space located in the Washington, DC area. The requirement consists of obtaining the full spectrum of services related to interior design (through design intent), technical coordination, and review and management of on-going construction activities. To meet its requirements, EPA anticipates sole-source negotiations with Gruzen-Samton, PC, 304 Park Avenue South, New York, NY, 10010. A sole-source contract will allow Gruzen-Samton and their subcontractors to meet critical design dates which have been imposed by GSA to allow them to continue the uninterrupted construction of EPA's New Headquarters offices in the Federal Triangle Complex. The proposed contract will consist of a base period (25,000 estimated LOE hours) from 2 August 1998 through 2 August 1999, and will allow for two one-year options (20,000 and 19,000 hours, respectively), with the last option expiring August 2, 2001. Failure to award this action to Gruzen- Samton will result in unacceptable delays to the project and result in severe cost penalties to the Government. Gruzen-Samton is uniquely qualified to fulfill EPA's remaining requirements because of its extensive understanding of EPA's needs gained through several years of experience on this project. The time needed for a replacement contractor to develop the detailed understanding of the project necessary to complete EPA's required work will almost assuredly result in delays in the project. In addition, the selection of a contractor other than Gruzen-Samton to complete the work on this project would result in a significant duplication of costs, because it would be almost impossible for a new contractor to get "up to speed" without the investment of many thousands of man hours. (0190)

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