Bids for Highland Residential Services’ latest development Redbud Village came in as expected at Tuesday’s bid opening.
Executive Director Dow Harris said the project is budgeted to come in at or below $4 million for all twenty housing units. Harris said there will be ten units with one bedroom and ten units with two bedrooms.
“They’re going to be really nice apartments,” Harris said. “They’re also going to be, you know, we’ve tried to fit those into the theme of the entire development, Eagle’s Landing, Hickory Valley, Oak Tree Towers. They kind of, there’s a little separation there between them and Oak Tree Towers but Hickory Valley, Magnolia Ridge, and these apartments here will just blend right in.”
Harris said the goal is to have construction on the development underway by late April. Harris said the project allows for a year-long construction period but bidders are allowed to specify a shorter time frame. Harris said he thinks nine months would be enough time.
“We thought from an economic perspective giving them a year didn’t press them down,” Harris said. “That gives them a lot of flexibility to build two buildings, twenty units.”
Harris said the one-bedroom units will be around six hundred square feet and the two-bedroom units will be around eight hundred. Harris said the bidding process is handled by an architectural firm and there is a lot that goes into the system.
“Lots of bureaucracy, there’s lots of documents, licensing requirements, all that stuff,” Harris said. “It’s sealed bids. They have to bring their bid here, it has to be logged in before bid opening time. They don’t have to be here in person, but all their documents have to be. There’s a bid package that’s like a catalog and all those documents have to be included or the bid is unacceptable.”
Harris said the organization recently met with its supporters including UCHRA, Genesis House, Volunteer Behavioral Health, and the Putnam County School Board to discuss the development. Harris said UCHRA has committed to providing multiple activities for Redbud Village.
“I was really shocked to know that we have six hundred plus children in the Putnam County School System that meet the definition of homeless one way or another,” Harris said. “Twenty units doesn’t go very far.”
