City plans $2.7 billion in capital works over 5 years.

Commissioner William Diamond of the City Department of General Services reported that the DGS is responsible on average for letting over &500 million in architectural and construction contracts each year, and he is urging New York Building Congress (NYBC) members to bid on the agency's work.

Addressing more than 200 participants at a June construction industry breakfast forum co-sponsored by the Building Congress, Commissioner Diamond estimated that DGS' capital expenditures over the next five years will aggregate $2.7 billion. The jobs will include design, construction and renovation of libraries, fire and police stations - "virtually all types of municipal buildings except schools and sanitation garages.'

Building Congress President Richard Anderson opened the forum, the fourth in the 1994 forum series which NYBC co-sponsors. He emphasized their importance in terms of communicating job opportunities and for networking, and he said "we will continue to offer members this type of service." In this context, he explained that the Building Congress' Golf Outing is scheduled for September 19, and that the Awards Luncheon will be held subsequently in the Fall, to be followed in December by the Holiday Show.

When Building Congress Chairman John Hennessy introduced Diamond, the NYBC officer noted that the DGS in 1994 is expected to let some $770 million in bids. Commissioner Diamond, he said, has been a strong advocate of the privatization thrust that is a key goal of the Giuliani Administration, and Diamond reported that he is implementing a managed competition approach to determine "work that could be better handled by the private sector."

Illustrating one kind of privatization approach the DGS is considering, Diamond explained that he is seeking bids by investors on the private renovation of 280 and 346 Broadway. The DGS, he said, has issued requests for expressions of interest in these two buildings and has arranged tours of them for potential investors. The DGS is contemplating allowing a private company to lease or acquire the buildings. The successful bidder would have the right to rent out the ground-floor retail space in these properties and would be required to renovate the upper floors. The idea for this, the commissioner said, came from an investor who is bidding for the work.

In addition to inviting the private sector to bid on DGS design and construction jobs, Diamond announced that the agency is seeking private sector maintenance bids under a managed competition program for two large public buildings - 2 Lafayette Street and the Brooklyn Municipal Building. DGS also is exploring the use of private brokers to sell high-value surplus real property at public auction, and it is considering having private lease brokers look at higher-priced city leases to see if they can save the city money.

The DGS commissioner reported that the city will "be stretching out the funding of its capital program over five years to diminish the level of debt service the city will pay on bond sales." As a result, he explained, city agencies will have to dedicate available funding for court-mandated projects and those necessary to preserve the structural integrity of the city's capital assets.

Among the DGS' upcoming projects - and their costs - Commissioner Diamond said, are: construction work on 280 and 346 Broadway, $40 million; constructien of new kitchens at Rikers Island and other correctional facilities, $177 million; construction of three new police stations, one in Manhattan and two on Staten Island, $25 million; construction of a new Flushing branch library, $15 million; a new asphalt plant in Brooklyn, $8 million; and compliance work in connections with the American Disabilities Act, $25 million.

The DGS also expects to move a number of projects into the design stage this year, and will seek bids from private architects. These include: up to 10 new day-care centers; major improvements to senior citizen facilities; plans and upgrades for mortuaries throughout the city; homeless shelter upgrades; library infrastructure upgrades; police academy refurbishment; fire station improvements; and an addition to the Museum of the City of New York.