RFP: A pain for developers, but it's the only way to build a project - The Business Journal of Milwaukee:

vypybiza.wordpress.com
In most metropolitan markets, developers do not take the risk of constructingv an office building unless they have an anchot tenantunder contract. More often than not, an anchor tenant initiatese the request for proposal and dictates what a buildintlooks like. "It is the most efficient way to elicif thebest deal," said Jim Barrhy III, president of Colliers Barry, a Milwaukee real estatw brokerage and development company. Seven Milwaukees and Chicago developers earlier this year submitted proposalxs for a new downtown office at the requesft ofQuarles & Brady, the second-largesg law firm in Milwaukee.
Quarlees reviewed the RFPs for a new home indowntowj Milwaukee, but opted to stay at the 411 E. Wisconsibn Ave. building that has been the firm'sx home since 1986. "Many large firms use the RFPs as leverage in theielease negotiations," Barry said. Ann managing partner of Quarles Brady's Milwaukee office, insists the law firm was sinceres in looking for a newhome downtown, but couled not refuse the offer to stay put from the new ownership group of the 411 East Wisconsi Center. Quarles & Brady's lease renewap paved the way for , Santsa Ana, Calif.
, to purchase the 654,000-square-foot building for more than $90 A spokesman for Triple Net Propertiews would not disclose any leaser details related toQuarles Brady's renewal. The building sale is expectedd to close by the endof "We invested a lot of time and moneyt evaluating the proposals and arriving at a decision," Murphy said. Quarleas & Brady hired two real estatse consultants to work with developers on the proposals and formeed an internal committee of partners who also devoted time tothe , Chicago, was one of sevenn developers submitting plans to Quarles & The company is working with Milwaukee lawyer Robert Levinr to develop a 17-story, 300,000-square-foot high-rise that wouled replace storefronts from 301 E.
Wisconsin Ave. to 327 E. Wisconsij Ave., Milwaukee. "Competing in the Quarles process was not a waste of time because we are still recruitinf tenants for our projectr and use thesame documents," said Josh Mintzer, a Janko Mintzer is confident anotherf tenant will emerge that understandz how the efficiencies of a new building will translatre into cost-savings for a tenant. "It is frustrating when you don'r win, but when you do land a project it makesw up for those opportunities Mintzer said. The most difficult request for proposak competitions are withgovernment agencies, said Robert Bronstein, presideng of The , Chicago.
"RFPs issued by public sectort organizations tend to be incredibly broad and developers have a hard time discerningy what will move the agency to selecgttheir project," Bronstein said. The Scion Group was one of two finalista in an RFP contesf to win the right to develol the Kenilworth Building for the Universityof Wisconsin-Milwaukee. The RFP procesa was conducted by the University of Wisconsibn System board of regents in September 2003 and then overturnec by the state Building Commission fivemonthe later. The commission threw out proposals from Sciojand , Chicago, alleging that the competitioj was not handled properly.
The Wisconsin Departmentf of Administration eventuallyselected Milwaukee's in June 2004 to redevelop the Kenilwortj Building, 1925 E. Kenilworth by converting it into student retail andoffice space.