Title
Resolution to Approve a Construction Contract with Fonson Company, Inc. ($5,743,539.61), a Construction Engineering Support Contract with Wade Trim ($998,000), establish a project budget ($5,244,600.76), and approve related cost share agreements for the Fourth Avenue Reconstruction Project.
Memorandum
Attached for your review and approval, please find a resolution to approve a construction contract between the Ann Arbor Downtown Development Authority (“DDA”) and Fonson Company, Inc. in the amount of $5,743,539.61 for the Fourth Avenue Reconstruction Project (RFP 2026-02).
The project includes the following elements and (funding sources):
• Wider sidewalks, new transit shelters, new lighting, pedestrian amenities, and public art (TIF, Parking, MEDC grant funds, MDOT grant funds, and AAATA)
• Repaving travel lanes (City Street Funds)
• Stormwater improvements (Stormwater Funds)
• Water main replacement due to age and undersized (City Water Funds)
• Minor sanitary adjustments (City Sanitary Funds)
The tentative construction schedule is listed below:
• Construction begins: May 4, 2026.
• Construction pauses: July 10-26, 2026 for Car Show, Art Fair, and other major events. The Liberty intersection will remain open for this entire period, but construction activity on the remainder of Fourth will pause only during Art Fair.
• Construction ends: December, 2026.
• Landscaping is installed: July 1, 2027.
DDA staff supervised the creation of plans and contract documents and issued a request for proposals through RFP 2026-02. On February 12, 2026, four proposals were received. A selection committee comprised of DDA and Public Services staff reviewed the proposals and determined which bidder was the Best Value based on the criteria in ORD-21-41:
• Qualifications, Experience, & Accountability (20%)
• Workplace Safety (20%)
• Workforce Development (20%)
• Social Equity & Sustainability (20%)
• Schedule of Pricing/Cost (20%)
The four bidders received the following scores, using the city’s standard RFP Evaluation form (v3.2):
• Fonson Company, Inc. - 89
• Major Contracting Group - 79.8
• ET MacKenzie Company - 77.7
• Colasanti Construction - 75.4
Fonson Company, Inc. received the highest score among the proposals reviewed by the selection committee. Therefore, staff recommend awarding the contract for this project to Fonson Company, Inc. Fonson complies with the City’s Non-Discrimination and Living Wage ordinances. Fonson’s proposal was within budget for the Project.
Construction Engineering Support: Capital construction requires construction management, staking, testing, and inspection. Wade Trim was selected by the City of Ann Arbor through competitive RFP processes, (RFP 22-17 <https://www.a2gov.org/media/41nf1h40/rfp_22-17_document.pdf>) and (RFP 25-27 <https://www.a2gov.org/media/yvtbo0al/rfp_25-27_document.pdf>), to provide these services. In addition, Wade Trim provided engineering services as part of the Fourth Ave Project design team. Therefore, staff recommend utilizing Wade Trim to provide construction phase design, management, inspection, staking, and testing for a total of $998,000, with shared costs as shown in Table 1.
Public Art: DDA staff are working with the Ann Arbor Art Center, local artists Erin and Philip Stead, and the Fourth Ave design team to finalize public art for the project. Additional grant dollars may be available beyond those shown in Table 1. Staff will bring a public art contract(s) to the Board for approval at a future meeting.
Budget/Fiscal Impact: (Project Cost Table attached)
The estimated total cost of the construction phase is within established Capital Improvement Plan amounts, and is estimated to be $7,775,871. The DDA’s portion of the project is included in the approved capital budgets of the TIF and Parking Funds. A portion of TIF funding includes a $200,000 MDOT SSSG Grant and an $800,000 MEDC RAP Grant. The City and AAATA will contribute funds for the project in accordance with cost sharing agreements and Table 1.
The project is included in the DDA’s Draft 2026-2035 Development and TIF Plans and the City’s Capital Improvement Plan (OI-26-05, UT-WS-24-17, and UT-ST-25-03).
Other Project Partners: The Housing Commission’s 350 S. Fifth Avenue Project will complete a small portion of the Fourth Ave Project; the Fourth Avenue sidewalk adjacent to the 350 S. Fifth Ave construction site will provide construction staging space for the duration of the housing construction. Those costs are not reflected in this memo or the total project costs and are estimated to be around $100,000.
Staff
Prepared by: Amber Miller, Capital Projects and Planning Manager
Body
Whereas, the Ann Arbor Downtown Development Authority’s (“DDA”) 2026-2035 Development Plan and the City of Ann Arbor’s Capital Improvements Plan identified Fourth Avenue as a priority capital project;
Whereas, The DDA’s portion of funding for the project is included in the approved capital budgets of the DDA TIF Fund and DDA Parking Fund;
Whereas, The City of Ann Arbor will contribute funds for the utilities and related improvements and the AAATA will contribute funds toward the transit shelters;
Whereas, The DDA received four proposals for this work on February 12, 2026 and Fonson Company, Inc. received the highest score among the proposals reviewed by the selection committee;
Whereas, It is now necessary to enter into a contract with Fonson Company, Inc. for the performance of this work;
RESOLVED, That the DDA Board approves a construction contract with Fonson Company, Inc. in the amount of $5,743,539.61 for the Fourth Avenue Reconstruction Project (RFP 2026-02);
RESOLVED, That a project budget of $5,244,600.76 be established for the Fourth Ave Project, with $4,353,019 from the DDA TIF Fund and $891,583 from the DDA Parking Fund;
RESOLVED, That a contingency amount of $689,224.75 be established within the project budget and that the DDA Executive Director be authorized to approve construction change orders not to exceed that amount, in order to satisfactorily complete this project;
RESOLVED, That the DDA Executive Director be authorized and directed to execute said construction contract agreement after approval as to form by the DDA Attorney;
RESOLVED, That the DDA Executive Director be authorized and directed to execute cost share agreements with the City of Ann Arbor and AAATA after approval as to form by the DDA Attorney;
RESOLVED, That the DDA Executive Director be authorized and directed to execute a construction management contract with Wade Trim Associates, Inc;
RESOLVED, That the Executive Director be authorized to take necessary administrative actions to implement this resolution.