DDC To Complete New Orchard Beach Parks Facility 2.6 Years Faster and with $3.59 Million Savings Using Design-Build Contracting

City Government’s First Project Outside of Borough-Based Jails Again Proves the Value of Design-Build and the City’s Ability to Use It Effectively

City Saving 50 Years and $1.4 Billion on 42 Current Design-Build Projects Overall

DDC: Ian Michaels, 646-939-6514, michaelia@ddc.nyc.gov
NYC Parks: 212-360-1311, pressoffice@parks.nyc.gov

(Bronx, NY – March 12, 2025) Deputy Mayor for Operations Meera Joshi, NYC Department of Design and Construction (DDC) Commissioner Thomas Foley and NYC Parks Commissioner Sue Donoghue (Parks) today announced that the new Orchard Beach Maintenance & Operations facility that DDC is building for Parks in the Bronx will be completed in April, at least 2.6 years faster than would have been possible under the traditional system of lowest bidder contracting and with cost savings of $3.59 million, or ten percent of the project’s overall budget. Throughout the project, DDC and Parks worked together with the Design-Build team, the Gilbane Building Company and nARCHITECTS, to ensure that the facility met staff needs while maintaining critical environmental and architectural elements.

In February, the city released its annual Design-Build Progress Report to the State Legislature, detailing 42 projects across several agencies using design-build. On those projects, the city is saving 50 years of project time and $1.4 billion using design-build instead of lowest bidder contracting.

The report shows that 13 DDC public buildings and infrastructure projects that are now using design-build are on track to be completed an average of 1.5 years faster and with anticipated 10 percent cost savings, eliminating more than 20 years of total construction time and saving taxpayers more than $85 million. An additional 24 years of construction and $1.35 billion is being saved in the Borough-Based Jails program for site preparation and design and construction of the four new, more humane facilities closer to courthouses and the family members of detainees.

“The proof is in the building: Design Build works—not just to deliver projects years early and millions under-budget, but beautiful, functional buildings that will be a pleasure to inhabit year after year,” said Deputy Mayor for Operations Meera Joshi. “Thanks to advocacy in Albany, we are now expanding this model to rehabs of cultural and civic institutions and environmental infrastructure investments to meet the moment. Thank you Commissioners Foley and Donoghue and your teams at DDC and Parks for this excellent collaboration and symbol of what can and must be.”

“Design-Build is proving to be much faster and more efficient than anything we’ve seen before at delivering the projects New Yorkers need,” said DDC Commissioner Thomas Foley, who in January was named Chair of the National Board of Directors of the Design-Build Institute of America (DBIA). “We are going to keep expanding our use of design-build to more projects and we’re going to keep the pressure on in Albany to expand alternate project delivery to more methods that can save taxpayers additional time and money.”

"This new and dedicated maintenance building will enhance Parks operations support for Orchard Beach, increasing efficiency for our staff and ultimately creating a better experience for visitors,” said NYC Parks Commissioner Sue Donoghue. “We're proud that the building was constructed with a green roof and solar panels to maximize environmental sustainability, and also received a 2024 New York City Public Design Commission award for design excellence. We're grateful for DDC's partnership in completing this project at least 30 months ahead of schedule and at a cost nearly $3.59 million lower thanks to design-build contracting, ensuring that the city is delivering for New Yorkers more effectively than ever before."

The $35.9 million Orchard Beach Maintenance & Operations Building is a new, two-story, 11,538-square-foot structure on a 33,000-square-foot raised lot near Orchard Beach and the Promenade in the southeast Bronx. It features office and storage space for Parks operations, a large yard with parking, a fueling station and electric vehicle chargers, and is accessed by a new service road and is surrounded by a restored woodland habitat. The building’s many features will make it easier for Parks staff to service the beach and visitors.

The building utilizes a green roof and includes solar panels as well as materials with reduced amounts of volatile organic compounds, and is expected to meet LEED Gold standards for environmental sustainability. The project received a 2024 Public Design Commission Award.

The design-build team began its work in March 2022 and the completed building is scheduled to be turned over to NYC Parks in April 2025. The design and construction of similar buildings using the lowest bidder system typically takes up to six years to complete under ideal circumstances. 

With 46 additional design-build projects in planning and procurement across several agencies, the City continues to expand the use of design-build even as it advocates for additional construction reforms that integrate construction expertise in the design process, provide cost control, and reduced timelines and mitigate risk. Last November, Governor Hochul signed state legislation – sponsored by New York Senator Leroy Comrie and New York Assemblymember Ed Braunstein – that expands the city’s ability to use progressive design-build and construction manager-build (CM-Build), two additional contracting models which cut time-consuming and expensive steps out of the outdated lowest bidder model, resulting in faster, more efficient project delivery.

DDC successfully used CM-Build during the COVID-19 pandemic to build field hospitals, clinics and testing and vaccination centers in record time, including a 470-bed field hospital in Queens in just 11 days. The average DDC construction timeline using CM-Build for 28 COVID testing sites was seven days.

These additional project delivery tools were preliminarily authorized by the State for use by DDC only, and only for certain buildings projects and for resiliency infrastructure, in an ‘expanded alternative delivery’ bill that passed as a single piece of legislation that was signed into law in November 2024. This year, the Governor included in her Executive Budget proposal an expansion that would give additional City entities (NYCHA, H+H, DCAS, DEP, DOT, and Parks) the ability to use those same tools, paving the way for even more construction reforms in the future.

How Design-Build Works

Unlike traditional lowest bidder contracting, design-build teams designers and builders work together under one contract with common business goals. It allows designers to innovate with builders when developing designs so that projects go more smoothly; it lets designers and builders work together to solve problems in the field as they arise; and it allows construction to begin even before a project’s final design is completed. By contracting with a designer and builder at one time, it eliminates a roughly nine-month procurement process to hire a contractor once a design is complete. Design-build also allows the city to contract for the best value project instead of just the lowest price.

About the NYC Department of Design and Construction
The Department of Design and Construction is the City’s primary capital construction project manager. In supporting Mayor Adams' long-term vision of growth, sustainability, resiliency, equity and healthy living, DDC provides communities with new or renovated public buildings such as such as firehouses, libraries, police precincts, and new or upgraded roads, sewers and water mains in all five boroughs. To manage this $33 billion portfolio, DDC partners with other City agencies, architects and consultants, whose experience bring efficient, innovative and environmentally-conscious design and construction strategies to City projects. For more information, please visit nyc.gov/ddc.

About the NYC Department of Parks and Recreation
NYC Parks is the steward of more than 30,000 acres of land — 14 percent of New York City — including more than 5,000 individual properties ranging from Coney Island Beach and Central Park to community gardens and Greenstreets. We operate more than 800 athletic fields and nearly 1,000 playgrounds, 1,800 basketball courts, 550 tennis courts, 65 public pools, 51 recreational facilities, 15 nature centers, 14 golf courses, and 14 miles of beaches. We care for 1,200 monuments and 23 historic house museums. We look after 666,000 street trees, and five million more in parks. We are New York City's principal providers of recreational and athletic facilities and programs. We are home to free concerts, world-class sports events, and cultural festivals.