Contracts finalized for UH medical school
By Johnny Brannon
Advertiser Staff Writer
After months of negotiations, the University of Hawai'i has signed its last major contract for construction of a new medical-school complex under construction at Kaka'ako.
The deal brings the total cost of work to be done by the project's main contractor team, Hawaiian Dredging Construction Co. and Kajima Construction Service, to $114.8 million.
The entire cost of the John A. Burns School of Medicine project, including work done by other firms, is expected to be $150 million. Linked projects comprising a Health and Wellness Center will cost about $300 million altogether.
University officials had expected to finalize the latest contract with Hawaiian Dredging/Kajima by late September, but said the project remains on schedule and should be completed by fall 2005.
"Everybody was just being cautious and wanted to make sure we got things right," UH associate vice president for external affairs Carolyn Tanaka said. "There was no particular obstacle in the way. It was just a matter of being prudent in negotiating a contract."
The medical school is the state's biggest construction project in years, and includes an education and administration building and a research building, together providing 345,000 square feet of facilities.
Though UH established cost estimates for the project in advance, contracts were negotiated through a series of incremental change orders as construction proceeded. This "design assist" process enabled the work to progress more quickly than if a single contract were negotiated up front, Tanaka said.
The Legislature has committed up to $150 million for the medical school, backed by $163 million in bonds, and some lawmakers have worried the project would run into expensive delays or cost overruns.
The university initially refused to release copies of contracts related to the project, arguing that UH's negotiating power for the remainder of the work would be undermined.
The contracts were disclosed in August, after the state Office of Information Practices determined there was no legal justification for keeping such public records secret for months after the contracts were signed.
UH hopes to raise another $150 million in private donations, including $90 million for a cancer research center in Kaka'ako and $60 million to renovate the university's Manoa campus medical school.
Reach Johnny Brannon at jbrannon@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8070.
