In an effort to battle drug addiction and homelessness, Guilford County government is converting the former St. Gales Nursing Home at 1400 Lees Chapel Road in Greensboro into a facility that will help addicts kick the habit.
Now the Board of Commissioners has chosen the same company that’s helping build the new Sheriff’s Department headquarters in downtown Greensboro to handle the renovations at the old nursing home.
Blum Construction has been chosen to renovate the rehab center. That’s the company that – along with a partnering company – took over the work on the new Sheriff’s Department headquarters after an initial contract for that job with Samet Corp. blew up in early 2023.
The county awarded the Design-Build contract to Blum – working with LS3P Architects – at a cost of $437,090 for the initial phases of the nursing home project.
The total cost, yet to be determined, will be arrived at by using change orders to this newly approved contract.
In mid-January, Guilford County put out a request for proposals for upfitting the facility that will become known as the Lees Chapel Treatment Facility.
By mid-February, four firms had submitted offers to take on the job, and all of those firms were invited to in-person interviews and allowed to present their plans and qualifications.
The county’s selection committee looked at both the written proposals and the in-person presentations and evaluated the companies based on criteria such as “Experience with Design-Build project delivery in the Public Sector,” “Experience working on facilities licensed by the Division of Health Service Regulation,” and “Proximity to, and familiarity with, the area where the project will be located.”
Nothing Guilford County builds these days gets done without going through a rigorous check of a company’s willingness to use minority- and women-owned businesses, and that was a big part of the selection process as well.
The county’s evaluation committee determined that Blum best met the needs of the project. The reasons given for the company’s selection is that it had demonstrated successful project delivery of design-build projects in the public sector in the past, had brought the best minority- and women-owned business outreach and engagement plan, and the company had “a strong local presence and track record of delivering projects in Guilford County.”
The $437,090 will cover the cost required to produce construction plans for the renovation of the building, prepare the permits and establish a “Guaranteed Maximum Price” to complete the project.
The county is using funds it was awarded from the multi-billion national opioid lawsuit settlement against major opioid makers and distributers to pay for the project.
Glad to know EDI is well represented.
Ahem… More like DIE. We haven’t heard about any progress on the jail project.
What BS, there are people in desperate need now of such services and they get nothing. The grant money goes to the NGOs that do nothing other than wright obligatory reports that services are needed…blah…blah…blah. No clients are met or served. How do I know this, my son has been an addict on the street for years and he has told me if you’re white there is no chance for any help or shelter. Ask Guilford County where the money went that has been intended for help for these folks for years, but never benefits the intended people. Time to put the spotlight on these NGOs and start with looking at the brand and model of vehicle the usually only two or three of the administrative staff drive. Sunlight is the best disinfectant.
“Nothing Guilford County builds these days gets done without going through a rigorous check of a company’s willingness to use minority- and women-owned businesses, and that was a big part of the selection process as well.”
In Chicago, Detroit, New York, etc, this is called pay to play and Skip and his supporters may be getting part of the deal (not kickbacks of course) . . .but in donations to the museum, hiring of friends, etc. See how this works?
The race of a consultant should not play any part in the decision making of which company to hire, yet these type of things are part of the federal and state governments, and the trickle down effect on local governments.
Skip knows as well as anyone the old saying
“ once you go black you never go back”
The day of reckoning is coming skip
KARMA is closing in.
Not with this electorate.
No way to ever prove this but I’ll bet a dollar to a donut that the downtown money pit will get a nice donation in the near future from Mr. Blum and Co. That’s what change orders are for.
How about it Skip any truth to this.