SOUTH CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The state is going to use a new bidding process to rebid the $250 million consolidated state lab project planned for the West Virginia Regional Technology Park in South Charleston.
The first round of bids, which were opened in February under a traditional design build bid process, came in 20 percent or about $50 million above the original $250 million set aside for the project by the state legislature. The project will now take a different path.
State General Services Division Director Bob Kilpatrick tells MetroNews they’ll going to use a year-old state law that allows for projects using state money to be classified as a construction management risk project.
“It’s where we qualify construction management contractors into the process of them reviewing the design documents to help us value engineer them to a budget of acceptable level,” Kilpatrick said.
The option wasn’t available when planning first began for the project. Kilpatrick said he’s confident the state can save enough money through “value engineering” to be able to keep the sprawling lab the same size.
“Our last resort option as this point is to cut any of the scope, to make the building smaller or to remove any space from it,” Kilpatrick said. “We feel there is enough value engineering to be done that we can get back to that number.”
There’s about $225 million left of the original $250 million allocated by the legislature. Money has been spent designing the building and prepping the property in the technology park.
The facility will house the Department of Health-Office of Laboratory Services, Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, Department of Labor- Weights and Measures, WV State Police Forensics, West Virginia University, Marshall University and WV Department of Administration-General Services Division.
The building, planned to be about 300,000 square feet, will be owned by the Department of Administration and operated by General Services.
Kilpatrick said there are already several other projects in the state that are using the value engineering through the construction management risk option. He said projects at Marshall, a school construction project in Putnam County and a new state Agriculture Lab being built at West Virginia State University are all using it.
“It allows us to do, in essence, live action negotiating with a construction manager, value engineering from what’s there to pare it down,” Kilpatrick said. “It could be changes in systems, changes in ancillary costs associated with the project.”
Those working on the project told lawmakers late last year, before the February bid opening, they hoped the lab could open some time in 2029. Kilpatrick said a date in 2030 is now more realistic.
“There will be a solicitation process of hiring a construction manager—part of that negotiating process may be lengthening the construction duration a bit to just try and get to the right price,” Kilpatrick said.
One option Kilpatrick said he doesn’t have is going back to legislature to request more money.
“I don’t think there’s a scenario in which we would do that,” he said. “We’re pretty optimistic we can get it in at the number using this process.”
Next up is a two-step solicitation process.
Kilpatrick said in the coming months the state will pre-qualify three possible construction management contractors through a solicitation process. That will be followed by a second solicitation where the firms will submit a requests for proposal on how they would get the project to the desired cost. One of those firms will be selected Kilpatrick said “at a price at which we can actually accomplish the project.”
A groundbreaking ceremony was held for the consolidated lab project on April 30, 2024. It will probably take about three years to build once the dirt actually begins to move.