Airport’s $1 billion expansion may be managed by two firms based in atl, one in nyc - saportareport

By David Pendered Mayor Kasim Reed’s administration has recommended the $1 billion expansion of Atlanta’s airport be overseen by Parsons Brinkerhoff, Inc., H.J. Russell & Co., and Heery

International. The joint venture is named Atlanta Aviation Assoc., or A3. The initial payment is $2 million over the next five years; terms for additional payments are not mentioned in the

legislation. The city has the option to extend the contract by a decade, in two five-year increments. The selection ends a long period of speculation over which firms would be selected to

provide program management services for the sweeping upgrades planned for Hartsfield Jackson Atlanta International Airport. Invitations were issued Sept. 22. The city extended the deadline

for responses from Nov. 5 to Dec. 17, without explaining the reason for the delay. At that point, the process seemed to disappear from public view. In February, the airport’s spokesman said

he could make no comment on the process of reviewing proposals submitted by vendors, other than to say that the review was proceeding on schedule. Aviation General Manager Miguel Southwell

and Chief Procurement Officer Adam Smith formally recommended A3 win the bid. Southwell and Smith made their decision following the review of proposals that was conducted by the Aviation

Department’s Evaluation Committee, with support from the Procurement Department, according to the legislation. Russell and Heery are based in Atlanta. Parsons Brinkerhoff is a global firm

based in New York and has its Atlanta offices in Buckhead, at Tower Place. Arnold Rosenberg, with Parsons Brinkerhoff, is to serve as principal-in-charge. Rosenberg serves as the firm’s

National Aviation Practice Leader for Construction and Program Management. Rosenberg is based in the firm’s Washington office. Michael Russell, of Russell & Co., serves on the joint

venture’s executive committee. Glenn Jardine, of Heery, serves on the joint venture’s executive committee. A3 has identified 14 sub-consultants, and some of them employ individuals well

known in metro Atlanta’s civic and business circles. The list includes: * Robert Brown, who chaired the Grady Health System’s board, has served on two state boards, and chaired the Georgia

Chamber of Commerce; * David Perkins, who provided program management services to Atlanta’s airport from 2006 to 2006; * Cynthia Jones Parks, a past board member of the Metro Atlanta Chamber

and director of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta’s small business advisory board. The Atlanta City Council is poised to begin its review of the nomination of A3. The council’s

Transportation Committee is slated to discuss the resolution at its meeting Wednesday. Councilmember Felicia Moore chairs the committee. The scope of work in the contract includes advising

airport officials on a wide array of renewal and replacement projects. The projects are intended to enable the airport to handle expected growth in passenger and cargo services at the

world’s busiest passenger airport. Expansion plans include the possibility of building a sixth runway; adding parking for passengers and employees; and expanding air cargo facilities. The

airport handled 96.2 million passengers and 868,359 operations in 2014, according to an airport report. Growth is expected to boost these numbers to 120 million passengers and 1.1 million

operations, by 2031, according to the airport’s master plan. The annual cost of construction projects to accommodate this growth is expected to “easily” exceed $100 million a year, according

to the request for proposals the city issued in 2014. The construction cycle is expected to last 10 years or more. Funding sources have not been identified. Competitors for the contract

included: A3; * Atlanta Program Partners, comprised of CH2MHill, Rohadfox Construction, and Thrasher; * AECOM Technical Services; * The Louis Berger S.L. King Technologies, Inc.; *

Diversified Aviation Consultants. Incidentally, although AECOM did not with the project management contract, it did win the administration’s support for a two-year renewal of its contract to

provide on-call asset management and sustainability services. Terms were not identified in the legislation to extend AECOM’s contract beyond the initial three-year term, which expires May

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