Request for Proposals for a Residential Rehabilitation Program Admin

Statement of Purpose

The City of Alameda (City) administers various residential rehabilitation programs including the Rental Rehabilitation Program, Housing Rehabilitation Program, Minor Home Repair Program, Substantial Rehabilitation Program, and Soft Story Structural Assessment Grant. The City is seeking qualified nonprofits to assist with administration of residential rehabilitation programs for a one-year contract with the possibility of up to two additional renewals of one-year year each. The City intends to award a service provider agreement to the consultant team selected (Consultant Team) substantially in form to the one shown in Exhibit A to the respondent deemed most qualified, based on the evaluation criteria contained in this RFP.

 

Background

The City’s residential rehabilitation programs are funded by the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) and are therefore required to adhere to all U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) requirements. Following is a list of the residential rehabilitation programs that are currently offered by the City and which may be administered by the consultant team selected.  

  • Housing Rehabilitation Program
  • Housing Safety Program
  • Minor Home Repair Program
  • Rental Rehabilitation Program
  • Soft Story Structural Assessment Grant
  • Substantial Rehabilitation Program

 

Program Development 

While the City anticipates that it will continue to offer the programs that are described above, the Consultant Team will be asked to advise on the following as well:

  • Evaluate additional program offerings tied to code compliance, accessory dwelling units and/or climate resiliency (e.g., flood mitigation, electrification, etc.)
  • Make recommendations for additional program offerings
  • Develop process for prioritizing applications when there are more applications than funds available
  • Revise program guidelines and forms, as needed

 

RFP Schedule

RFP Issued

Thursday, June 9

Deadline for RFP Questions

Monday, July 11 at 5:00 p.m.

RFP Q&A Posted

No later than Thursday, July 14

Proposals Due

Tuesday, July 19 at 5:00 p.m.

RFP Interviews

Thursday, July 28

Selection of Firm

No later than, August 31 (Date revised on 8/4/22)

Recommendation to City Council

Wednesday, October 5

 

Submittal Instructions

Responses should be submitted electronically to vcole@alamedaca.gov no later than 5:00 p.m. PST on Tuesday, July 19.

The proposal should be submitted via email as a single .pdf file. The email should include the following subject line: (Name of Organization) Response to RFP: City of Alameda Residential Rehabilitation Program Administrator.

City staff recommend that you send a separate email without attachments to confirm delivery.  Receipt will be confirmed during regular business hours. Late proposals will not be accepted.  

Questions

Veronika Cole, Community Services Manager, is available to answer questions and to respond to requests for additional information. All questions must be submitted in writing via email to vcole@alamedaca.gov and will be accepted until 5:00 p.m. on Monday, July 11, 2022. Answers will be posted on the RFP webpage on or before Thursday, July 14, 2022

 

Scope of Work

Scope of work: The City looks to the Consultant Team to present a high-quality scope of work and cost-effective fee proposal for the period of one year from the effective date of the contract as a part of their submittal. The fee proposal should not exceed $75,000. (See submittal requirements below.)

 

Submittal Requirements

The City is requesting that submitted proposals contain the following information in the ensuing order:

  1. Table of Contents A table of contents shall be provided that identifies the page numbers where to find the various sections included in the proposal.
  2. Letter of Interest:  A letter expressing the Consultant Team’s interest in being considered, introduces the Consultant Team members and outlines the proposed services. 
  3. Team Organization and Description:  Please describe the organizational structure of the consultant team that will be performing the Scope of Work. Define the relationship between administrative support and project management staff. Please also include the billing rates for the proposed project manager and all other applicable staff. A project manager must be designated and must be the principal contact for the City. If using subcontractors, provide a description of each of the individual firms that will be a part of the Consultant Team; their role on the Consultant Team and involvement in each task; how the Consultant Team will be organized; and who will be the lead member of the Consultant Team. Please indicate if any persons employed by your agency have been debarred by HUD or are otherwise prohibited from entering into contracts with any Federal agency. (5-page maximum).
  4. Program Manager & Key Staff Experience:  For key team members, please provide recent examples of experience with managing similar programs for other local government jurisdictions (city or county). For each, please include a detailed description of the jurisdiction, work performed, and types and number of projects completed on an annual basis. Please also provide the name, title, phone number and email address of at least one (1) reference for each jurisdiction who can attest to the quality and effectiveness of the Consultant Team’s work. For each project, give a brief statement of the firms and project team’s adherence to schedule and budget, the successfulness of the process and outcome. (5-page maximum).
  5. Organizational Viability: Provide most current unaudited financial statements and the last three years of audited financial statements, and any other information that establishes the financial capacity of the administrator/developer to undertake and complete the proposed project.
  6. Scope of Work, Fee Proposal, and Schedule. Please provide a detailed scope of work for a period of one year from the contract effective date, task-by-task fee proposal not to exceed $75,000 and task-by-task schedule. At a minimum, the proposal should address the administration tasks for the Residential Rehabilitation Program including:
    • Coordination with prospective applicants, contractors and City
    • Program marketing and responding to inquiries
    • Initial eligibility screening
    • Application processing
    • Preparing scope of work and budgets
    • Grant/loan documentation preparation
    • Construction management
    • Project close out and loan set up

       

    In addition, City staff anticipate a need for the following services:  review drafts and provide input on a public-facing document that would detail program guidelines; recommend new programs and/or modification to existing ones; and devise a process for reporting project progress from inquiry to close out.

    Please note that the City has prepared template documents for grant and loan documents and will provide them to the selected Consultant Team. City staff is responsible for reviewing draft grant and loan documents and coordinating execution of all required documents. 

    Consultant Teams are invited to propose provision of additional services and deliverables. If the Consultant Team would charge additional fees to any related party, please describe the cost and services provided for those fees. The overall fee proposal should not exceed $75,000.

  7. Comments/Questions on the City Standard Service Provider Agreement:  The City’s standard service provider agreement, which the Consultant Team will be required to sign, is attached for your consideration (see Exhibit A). If the Consultant Team has any questions/concerns related to the standard form contract, they must be submitted in writing with your response to this Request for Proposals.
  8. Acknowledgement of California Public Records Act:  Consultant Team to include a statement as follows: “Consultant understands that all documents submitted to the City in connection with the proposal are subject to the California Public Records Act and may be disclosed without notice to Consultant.”
  9. Acknowledgement of City Contract Requirements: Consultant must include a statement acknowledging that either: 1) Consultant requests modifications (please include a description of requested modifications) to the City’s Service Provider Agreement, which is included as Exhibit A; or 2) Consultant will meet the City’s standard contract requirements through execution of the Service Provider Agreement attached as Exhibit A.

 

Selection Process

The selection team will review and rank the submitted proposals according to the following criteria:

  1. The Consultant Team’s past experience and demonstrated success working with cities, rental property owners, property managers, tenants and other third parties in similar programs, including experience working with diverse low-income communities. (25 percent)
  2. The quality and experience of the Program Manager and key staff persons who will be assigned to work with the City of Alameda’s Residential Rehabilitation Program. (15 percent)
  3. Strength and financial stability of the agency. Narrative summary of administrative program, including required and anticipated services; relevance of project approach to providing services. Capacity to provide professional services in a timely and quality manner. (35 percent)
  4. Clarity, comprehensiveness and organization that demonstrates strategic thinking, creative and innovative approaches, an understanding of best practices, and delivery of a services to specialized populations – low-income seniors and/or persons with disabilities. (15 percent)
  5. Cost effectiveness of services. Demonstrated ability to perform on schedule and within budget. (10 percent)

City staff will select a maximum of two (2) Consultant Teams to interview. Staff anticipate interviewing Consultant Teams on July 28, 2022. The final selection will be based on the submitted proposals, interview and reference checks. 

City will not discriminate against any interested firm or individual on the grounds of race, creed, color, sex, age, disability or national origin in the contract award. City reserves the right to reject any and/or all proposals at its discretion. 

Download a PDF of this RFP here(PDF, 1MB).

 

 

Question #1:  Consultant Team. We have 2 members of the consultant team who would be pro bono. Both are bankers. They will advise on the grant/loan documentation preparation. Is it okay that they are pro bono?

Answer #1:  Consultants may propose to use volunteers / pro bono labor as a part of a project. The projects will be funded with Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds for the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development and must comply with federal funding requirements.

Question #2:  Grants/Loans. Are there banking relationships set up and in place? Are all banks in Alameda participating? Would we need to set up those relationships?

Answer #2:  The program does not currently have banking relationships in place because the City provides grants up to $5,000 and loans up to $50,000 for qualified projects, using CDBG funding. If additional funds are needed to complete a project, the property owner may provide funds or secure additional funding. Consultants who are proposing to expand the scope of work to include work that is not CDBG eligible and which would require establishing banking relationships should note that in the proposal.

Question #3:  Contractors. In our experience with other jurisdictions, contractor invoices are submitted to us for approval and then paid directly by the Cities. Is that the case here?

Answer #3: Historically, the City has entered into an agreement with the property owner and the property owner has entered into the agreement with the contractor. Consultants who are proposing to modify this process should note it in the proposal.

Question #4: Housing Rehabilitation Program. Can you confirm that this is an inhouse City of Alameda program.

Answer #4:  Yes, the Housing Rehabilitation Program as well as the other programs listed in the RFP are programs offered by the City of Alameda and funded by CDBG.