Plans for the new Atlanta Falcons stadium moved ahead Friday as five construction firms made the short list to become the lead contractor for the billion-dollar project.
The finalists are Holder Construction of Atlanta; Arizona-based Hunt Construction Group; Turner Construction Co. and Skanska USA, both with corporate offices in New York; and Bethesda, Md.-based Clark Construction Group, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has learned. Skanska USA and Turner also have Atlanta offices.
The deal to build the retractable-roof stadium received governmental approvals in March and April from the Atlanta City Council, the Georgia World Congress Center Authority board and the board of the city’s development authority, Invest Atlanta. The stadium is to be built on the Congress Center campus on one of two sites near the Georgia Dome, which will be demolished after the new facility opens in 2017.
The Falcons and the GWCCA jointly hired a lead architect, Kansas City-based 360 Architecture, late last month to design the stadium. The firm is in the process of conceptual planning.
Though the architectural selection process was led by an eight-member committee composed of both Falcons and GWCCA representatives, the Falcons have spearheaded the general contractor selection.
The applicants were whittled to five after responding to a request for qualifications. Interviews were held this week. The finalists will now submit bids through a request-for-proposal process. Further interviews will be held.
The parties have agreed the Falcons will make a recommendation to the GWCCA, which has the ultimate approval of the contractor and the terms of the deal.
“Final general contractor selection is expected within about 30 days,” said Kim Shreckengost, executive vice president and chief of staff of AMB Group, the Falcons’ parent company.
“Finalists will be given the opportunity to suggest other contractor teams that would potentially work with them; however, we would have discretion in putting together the final team mainly to maximize local and equal business opportunity participation,” Shreckengost said in an email.
Shannon Hines, a senior vice president with Turner, confirmed the company’s status on the final list.
“The project will change the skyline of Atlanta and we are certain it will have a long and positive impact on the surrounding communities,” he said in an emailed statement.
Turner’s Georgia projects include Georgia Tech’s Bobby Dodd Stadium renovations, Atlanta’s public safety headquarters, the Cobb County Superior Courthouse and the Roybal campus for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The company’s stadium projects include work on Yankee Stadium and the Philadelphia Eagles’ Lincoln Financial Field.
Skanska USA, which acquired Atlanta-based Beers Construction in the 1990s, built the original Georgia Dome and other major attractions such as Philips Arena, Turner Field and the Bank of America Plaza. The international company is also known for MetLife Stadium, the home of New York’s two NFL teams in East Rutherford, N.J., which was designed by 360 Architecture.
Holder Construction has built such local structures as the new World of Coca-Cola, the Mansion on Peachtree (now known as the Residences at Mandarin Oriental Atlanta) and the Cox Enterprises corporate headquarters. Holder officials could not be reached for comment.
Hunt has built several stadiums across the country, including Washington’s Nationals Park, Miami’s Marlins Park and the New York Mets’ Citi Field, according to its website.
Clark Construction’s stadium projects include the Washington Redskins’ FedEx Field, as well as Nationals Park with Hunt Construction. Locally, the firm completed an expansion project at Atlanta’s R.M. Clayton Water Reclamation Center, a wastewater treatment facility, according to its website.
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