Contractor chosen for UH med school
By Beverly Creamer
Advertiser Education Writer
Calling it a project "by Hawai'i and for Hawai'i" that will create 600 to 700 construction jobs for the local economy, University of Hawai'i president Evan Dobelle yesterday named the Hawaiian Dredging/Kajima Joint Venture as the contractor for the first phase of the new medical school in Kaka'ako.
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Bond sales will begin in July and ground will be broken in October for the $155 million project that Dobelle said will eventually provide 2,900 jobs and bring $100 million worth of research money into the state.
UH President Evan Dobelle touts the medical school project as a boost for the economy.
"The $120 million in construction costs are probably the largest in UH history," said Dobelle, "and may be the largest in Hawai'i in the next 10 years."
The university will now work with architects and designers in overall project development to set a guaranteed maximum price, although construction costs are expected to fall in the $110 million to $120 million range.
The project is expected to be completed in 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 years, said medical school dean Edwin Cadman, with fall of 2005 as the targeted completion date.
Because of the "design/assist" or "design/build" process of step-by-step consultation, there will be no cost overruns, said Bill Wilson, president and chief executive officer of Hawaiian Dredging, which celebrates its 100th birthday in Hawai'i this month.
"We'll be pricing as we go," said Wilson.
In the past, cost overruns have plagued UH projects. That won't happen this time, said interim Manoa chancellor Deane Neubauer, because of the new construction process, and the autonomy with which the university is acting under a constitutional amendment passed two years ago.
The two firms, one based in Hawai'i and one in Englewood Cliffs, N.J., have worked together on previous projects. That tipped the balance in their favor, said Dobelle. A 14-member citizens' advisory panel made the final decision.
Panel member Bruce Coppa, director of Pacific Resources Partnership, called the project "a shot in the arm" for Hawai'i's construction industry, which has consistently lost jobs and overall value since the late 1980s.
The new medical school — to be called the Health and Wellness Center — has long been considered a hope to diversify the state's economy. While $155 million will be spent, the economic ripples are expected to generate three to four times that much in the economy, officials said.
Hawaiian Dredging has built other UH buildings, including the Institute of Astronomy. It built Kapi'olani Medical Center at Pali Momi and The Queen's Medical Center.
Kajima's experience includes Cornell Medical Center, Verona Medical Center, Long Beach World Trade Center and San Francisco Pacific Bell Park. Kajima has had an office in Hawai'i for 20 years.
Because some of the laboratories for the new medical school will be much more advanced than any now in the state, Mainland expertise was needed, Dobelle said. Each of the three joint ventures that bid on the project had a local firm allied with a Mainland firm.
Phase One of the med school complex, which this contract covers, also includes laboratories for the Cancer Research Center of Hawai'i.
The other two joint ventures that bid were: ACK+McCarthy and Kiewit/DPR.
Reach Bev Creamer at bcreamer@honoluluadvertiser.com.
