Vikings stadium panel picks Hammes Co. as owner’s rep

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By Brian Johnson
Dolan Media Newswires

Minneapolis — The Minnesota Sports Facilities Authority has chosen Hammes Co., a Madison, Wis.-based firm with experience on a variety of National Football League stadium projects, to provide owner’s representative services for the $975 million Vikings stadium project.

On Friday, the authority accepted a $7.8 million owner’s rep proposal from Hammes, one of 14 firms that vied for the work, which includes representing the authority’s interests on design development, quality assurance and other duties.

Authority staff members interviewed three finalists, including Hammes, Chicago-based International Facilities Group and Cleveland-based Weston Sports and Entertainment.

Steve Maki, the authority’s facilities and engineering director, said the authority received “some very strong proposals,” but that it was the unanimous opinion of staff to go with Hammes.

MSFA staff and board members said they were impressed with Hammes’ experience on other NFL stadiums, including Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Ford Field in Detroit and Met Life Stadium in New York.

The Met Life project especially was challenging because it involved coordination with two different teams, the New York Jets and the New York Giants, and Hammes “performed very well in that role,” Maki said.

According to authority documents, Hammes will have “key personnel on hand for various stages” of the Vikings project and commit about 45,000 work hours to the job for “a cost not to exceed” $7.8 million.

Hammes President Robert Dunn declined to comment about the project.

Also on Friday, the authority approved a $747,000 environmental consulting proposal from North Carolina-based Kimley-Horn Associates, and authorized issuance of separate request for proposals for architectural and construction management services.

The architectural services contract is expected to be in the $40 million to $50 million range, and the construction management services initially will cost $2 million to $3 million.

However, the construction management contract could increase to the $20 million and up range, Maki said. Depending on the construction delivery method, the construction manager ultimately could be the general contractor, authority documents noted.

The authority also authorized a request for financial institution services and approved a full-time communications position.

SRF Consulting, American Engineering Testing and ZAN Associates are sub-consultants.

One other firm, Maple Plain-based Wenck Associates, also put in an offer for the work. The firms’ prices and schedules were similar, but Kimley-Horn got extra diversity credit by having a woman in a key leadership position on the team.