
The 2022 class of DDC interns. Image Credit: DDC.
High school, undergraduate, and graduate students completed their paid six-week internships with the Department of Design and Construction earlier this month. The Department of Design and Construction held a closing ceremony for their 15 high school and 50 undergraduate and graduate students in mid-August to mark the completion of their internships with the department. (more…)

Department of Design and Construction Logo Image Credit: DDC
On July 13, 2022, the NYC Department of Design and Construction (DDC) Commissioner Thomas Foley announced the creation of the City’s first Pre-Qualified List, strictly for Minority- and Women-Owned Business Enterprises general contractors. The Pre-Qualified List was designed to provide Minority- and Women-Owned Business Enterprises general contractors with first dibs over Department of Design and Construction projects between $500,000 and $2.99 million. In this way, construction contracts can be awarded faster and projects can be completed earlier without the need to run background checks or qualifications on all the bidders. (more…)

Brooklyn’s Rescue Co. #2, seen above, is a firehouse that opened in 2019 as part of a past Project Excellence contract. Image Credit: NYC DDC.
Projects will be awarded to the selected firms on a rotating basis. On March 16, 2022, the Department of Design and Construction (DDC) announced the selection of twenty firms the agency has contracted with for architectural design services for future public building projects. The firms were selected as part of the Project Excellence Program. The Project Excellence Program pre-qualifies firms to provide design services for public building projects to ensure high quality while saving time on the procurement process. The previous round of the program expired in 2021. (more…)

546 West 44th Street. Image Credit: Google Maps.
Property owner sued general contractor and design consultant for indemnification of costs resulting from violations of federal, state, and local disabilities law. CREF 546 owned property located at 546 West 44th Street in Manhattan and hired developers to construct two fourteen-story residential midrise apartment buildings that shared amenities. CREF 546 contracted with Code Consultants to review design and construction documents and Hudson Meridian as their general contractor. The building became occupied in 2016. (more…)

Construction on the Queens site parking lot began in June. Image Credit: DDC.
These teams will prepare the site for construction and enable court operations to continue for the duration of construction. On November 30, 2021, the Department of Design and Construction announced that four separate teams had been selected to receive design-build contracts to prep the sites of the new Borough-Based Jails. The Borough Based Jails project will build smaller jails in Manhattan, the Bronx, Queens and Brooklyn to allow for the eventual closure of Rikers Island to address crowding, safety and quality of life issues. The controversial project was approved in 2019. For CityLand’s previous coverage of the borough-based jails project, click here. (more…)