SLED Opportunity · OREGON · WASHINGTON COUNTY
AI Summary
Washington County Housing Authority seeks qualified architects for design and construction administration of a 45-60 unit permanent supportive housing project in Forest Grove, Oregon. The project emphasizes trauma-informed design and collaboration with development and construction teams.
The Housing Authority of Washington County (“HAWC”), issues this Request for Proposals (“RFP”) and invites the submittal of written proposals (“Proposals”) from qualified Architects interested in providing services for the design, permitting, construction documentation and administration for the construction of a new permanent supportive housing project containing 45 to 60 units. The HAWC intends the Forest Grove Permanent Supportive Housing development to provide up to 45 to 60 units of permanent supportive housing along with program offices, common interior and exterior amenities and back-of-house spaces to support future residents.
For this project, HAWC will be engaging the development consultant, architectural firm and the construction manager/general contractor under separate RFPs. It is our goal that the development consultant, architectural team and general contractor will work together, from the beginning of the project forward, to ensure the development meets the client’s expectations. HAWC seeks to assemble a development team that is experienced in the trauma-informed design and the needs of the permanent supportive housing population.
Housing Authority of Washington County (HAWC)
HAWC was formed on August 4, 1970, by the Washington County Board of County Commissioners, to provide affordable housing opportunities to help break the cycle of poverty and improve the quality of life in our community. Today, HAWC continues to serve our community, administering a variety of programs to help low-income households in Washington County achieve housing stability. These programs include Housing Choice Vouchers, Public Housing and other rent assistance programs, as well as real estate development and programs dedicated to those experiencing homelessness.
The Washington County Department of Housing Services was formed in 1992 to efficiently administer the housing activities and programs of both the Housing Authority and Washington County. While the Housing Authority remains a separate legal entity, it contracts with the County to implement and administer Housing Authority programs and all support services, like finance, purchasing and personnel.
The Housing Authority is governed by the Housing Authority Board of Directors. The Board consists of the Washington County Board of Commissioners, one at-large member, and one member who receives assistance from the Housing Authority. The Board of Directors meets monthly to review the work and upcoming plans of the Housing Authority.
Forest Grove PSH
The site at 3127 Pacific Avenue was acquired by HAWC in December 2025. The property was purchased for the purpose of developing Permanent Supportive Housing. At this early stage, it is anticipated that the development is anticipated to include up to 60 studio and/or one-bedroom units in a new three-story, elevator building. The current proposal includes 45 studio and/or one-bedroom units, although the number of units may be modified based on funding availability. The program includes offices for case management and property management and a variety of communal indoor and outdoor spaces.
The new Permanent Supportive Housing (PSH) development will serve “Population A”, namely households with disabling conditions that experience, or are at risk of, prolonged homelessness. In Washington County, these are mostly single adults and couples with high supportive service needs. As is best practice for PSH, trauma-informed design will be employed.
The site is 67,000 square feet (1.54 acres), one tax lot, and is generally flat. The site currently consists of one building, an asphalt parking lot located on the southwestern portion of the site and unimproved land on the northern portion. Refer to Exhibit A, site survey for existing conditions including a claim corner monument. Additional utility easements along the perimeter may be required. The site is located along the north side of Pacific Avenue, a major corridor, and is close to key amenities, a TriMet-bus stop with frequent service, and shopping including Bi-Mart, Safeway, Goodwill, various Forest Grove medical services, Pacific University, and the Open-Door Access Center in Cornelius.
HAWC is the developer of this PSH project, with support from Centro Cultural resident services and CareOregon providing behavioral health consultation Together, this cohort attended the Permanent Supportive Housing Institute (PSHI), which was sponsored by the Oregon Housing and Community Services (OHCS) and the Corporation for Supportive Housing.
It is the desire of the County that all individuals planning to attend the preproposal use the RSVP feature to notify the County of your intent to attend.
BIM Requirements added. Please use the See What Changed link to view all the changes made by this addendum.
Correction made to Section 3.3 in the third paragraph to reference the correct exhibit.
Please use the See What Changed link to view all the changes made by this addendum.
Proposal was within the 30-page count (excluding license and insurance certificates which will be uploaded within Vendor submissions) and conformed to all instruction in regards to submittal.
Provide a high-level design schedule assuming the contract is awarded in May 2026 with the anticipated start of construction in September 2027.
Identify how your firm works with local utilities including Clean Water Services.
Please describe how your team aligns with the MWESB goal, the architectural firm and consultants’ status related to COBID/MWESB certification or seeking certification at the time of submission.
Why and how are the individuals you propose right for this project? What do the various titles of key team members mean, i.e., what will they be doing on the project during the pre-construction and construction phases and how much time should the Owner expect to see them on the Project? How will you commit to changing any staffing changes with staff that has experience that is equal to the experience of the staff that will be replaced? What is the likelihood of changing or expanding your staffing during the pre-construction and construction phases? What is your process and ability to replace changing staff with staff that have either similar or more experience (in like projects) than the departing staff?
The Architect will present a project that is similar and directly applicable to the project that is the subject of this proposal. The Team should be able to discuss lessons learned and key elements that contributed to the success of the project. What did you learn that will be helpful on this project? While the focus here is on case studies, you may wish during the remainder of the discussion to have other recent project examples available to help demonstrate your experience and abilities as they relate to the project subject to this proposal. Additional follow-up questions may be asked regarding your case study.
The team was prepared with thoughtful responses to the questions asked. The answers were drawn from individual and team experience and were applicable to our project. Communication was clear and pleasant.
Were the references positive or negative?
By electronically submitting this response the Supplier attests and certifies that:
1. Person completing this response represents that I am either authorized to bind the Supplier, or that I am submitting the Response on behalf of and at the direction of the Supplier's representative authorized to contractually bind the Supplier.
2. I represent that the Supplier or its applicable representative(s) has reviewed the information contained in this Solicitation Package and that the information submitted is accurate.
3. Respondent agrees that the action of electronically submitting its response constitutes:
a. an electronic signature on the responses, generally,
b. an agreement to conduct business electronically,
c. an electronic signature on any form or section specifically calling for a
signature, and
d. an affirmative agreement to any statement contained in the solicitation
that requires a definite confirmation or acknowledgement.
Proposer read through and confirm that you met all of the Solicitation requirements?
Will the proposer extend pricing and terms to other public agencies?(there is no penalty for not agreeing to extend pricing)
Have you or a member of your staff been an employee of Washington County in the last six months?
Enter your registry number without dashes or spaces. If you are not currently registered enter N/A. If you are the successful bidder you will be required to register with the Secretary of State in order to contract with the County, per OAR 125-246-0330.
The proposer hereby certifies that they have complied with the tax laws of Oregon and all political subdivision of the State of Oregon, including ORS 305.620 and ORS chapters 316, 317 and 318. Washington County may terminate the contract if contractor fails to comply with any tax laws during the term of the contract.
Provide the name, email, and phone number for the contact in case of questions, or interview or demonstration arrangements.
The proposal shall be prepared succinctly, providing a straight forward, concise description of the proposer’s ability to meet the requirements of the RFP. There should be no unnecessary attachments or exhibits.
Proposal should contain no more than thirty (30) 8.5" x 11", pages of written material (excluding license and insurance certificates which will be uploaded within Vendor submissions) describing the ability of the proposer to perform the work described. The minimum font shall be twelve (12) point single spaced and the minimum margins shall be one (1) inch on all sides.
Address and phone number of home and branch offices. Identify which office will be performing the work.
The Architectural firm and each consultant shall be licensed for the type of work to be performed in the State of Oregon. Upload licenses here
The Architectural firm shall include as a submittal to this RFP, a copy of the firm’s current insurance policy limits.
Provide a reference list for 3-5 similar projects completed within the last 5 years. Include owner reference contact information, a brief project description, and identify proposed team members who were involved in the project. Procuement will reach out and check references of high-scoring proposers.
Confirm that you understand the requirement and will comply with the following.
The Architect/Design Team shall utilize Building Information Modeling (BIM) throughout the design and construction document phases. The BIM model shall be developed to meet AIA Level of Development (LOD) 300 standards as defined in the current 2025 BIM Forum LOD Specification.
Upload your proposal here. After uploading documents responders are encouraged to open and review uploaded documents to verify that they can be opened and are the correct documents before submitting. If the County cannot open any of the documents submitted the entire proposal will be disqualified.
County insurance requirement can be found under the section titled Attachments. The County may consider reducing insurance for these services. Please upload your Certificate of Insurance (Accord form) to indicate the level of insurance you currently possess.
Upload all pages or documents containing information exempt from disclosure per the Proprietary Information, Ownership and Use of Documents article of the Terms and Conditions Section.
Upload any alterations requested to Washington County's contract standard terms and conditions per the Form of Contract article of the Terms and Conditions Section.
How did you hear about this opportunity?
Will there be a Pre-Proposal Conference?
Would you like to have bidders respond to an electronic pricing table through ProcureNow?
Choose this if you want them to provide rates or pricing in a format dictated by you.
Will you want your bidder to separate a Price Proposal from the rest of the Response?
Proposal should contain no more than 'Page Limit 8.5" x 11", pages of written material (excluding biographies and brochures which may be included in an appendix) describing the ability of the proposer to perform the work described.
Is this a multiple award type solicitation?
Unless authorized by the Board a contract cannot exceed five years, but there are various ways that contracts can be set up. Please choose your preference. Options 2 - 3 will require amendments to extend the contract at the designated times.
Will Federal Funds be used to pay part or all of the agreements made under this solicitation
What is the expected resulting Contract Type with a selection of "Firm-Fixed-Lump-Sum" Firm-Fixed-Unit-Price", "Cost-reimbursement + Fee/Profit/Incentive" "Mixed/Flexible" would then provide us a clear picture of what the price-proposal or cost-proposal structure needs to be, and this the approriate instructions to the proposer can be provided.
Based on the intended scope of work for the awarded agreement, will the proposer be case as a subrecipient under 2 cfr 200.331
Do you have prior approval from the federal awarding agency to enter into a fixed awward? Did you inform them of the requirement for them to upload documentation of the pre-approval either from official guidance or from direct communication (email).
Is this a solicitation for proposals/applications for a beneficiary program?
Q (Question): Please clarify whether any architectural fees are required as part of the proposal submission.
A: Section 4.8 speaks to how this project will go about collecting information on fees.
Q (Question): Proposal Page limit is 30 pages. Are front and back covers, TOC, section dividers, cover letter, and resumes part of the total page limit?
A: It is 30 pages total front and back. Including TOC, section dividers, cover letter, and resumes. Front and Back cover can be excluded IF there is no content other than project name and firm name included.
Q (Question): Do you want the current staffing level, current workload, and capacity of each subconsultant personnel?
A: 2. Project Team Organization F. Consultant information should include the firm name, consultant scope, key team member names, relevant experience in similar projects, the number of projects completed or in progress with the consultant. Identify capacity of proposed consultants to meet the project timeline. This section is intended to be for consultants and subconsultants.
Q (References Clarification): You are asking for a reference list for 3-5 similar projects COMPLETED in the last 5 years. Can you verify they have to be completed or is it ok if they are in construction and close to completion?
A: At least one project that has been completed would be recommended. The remaining 2-4 projects can be in construction or close to completion.
Q (Fee): Page 15 states that a fee should be provided 10 days after be notified for selection. Then on page 38, item "6. 8.6. Separate Cost Proposal*" in the Vendor Submissions section, it states that a fee should be uploaded at time of proposal submission. Could you confirm which should be followed?
A: The form is included for your convenience so you know how HAWC wants to see the fees submitted when they are requested. I will go in and remove the question in the Vendor Submissions section proposers will be asked to provide those after an intent to award has been posted.
Q (4.3. Team Organization): Could you clarify which team members should be included for each question (4.3.A through 4.3.F.) in this section? We are interpreting it as asking for architect information (4.3.A.), then consultant information (4.3.B.), back to architect information (4.3.C, D, E), then back to consultant information (4.3.F.).
A: 4.3 – 3.4.3 – Item B can be removed from the discussion. Information on the architectural firm to be included in A. C, D 7 E. Consultant information to be included in F.
Q (No subject): In section "5. 4.5. Project Approach, item B states "B. Demonstrate compliance with each of HAWC’s requirements and ability to clearly meet the Scope of Work." Could you please confirm what HAWC's requirements are? Could you also expand on what you would like to see to show we have the ability to clearly meet the scope?
A: Confirm that the firm can meet the scope of work required in Exhibit DC- Exhibit CE of the B133. The requirements required to execute the program is outlined in Exhibit DA-Exhibit A_PSH Program. Confirmation that the firm complies with HAWC’s requirements and the ability to meet scope of work can be short as this information is also covered in section 4.4.4 B experience and 3.4.3 C firm capacity.
Q (Proposal Formatting): Section 4 notes proposal formatting requirements, and section 10.8 (RFP page 37) notes additional formatting requirements. Does the RFP page size need to be 8.5x11 with 1" margins and 12 point font per Section 10, or should we just stick to the 30 page count limit in section 4?
A: All responses should be formatted as stated in Section 10 and must be only 30 pages.
Q (Section 10 questionnaire): Section 10 includes several question and answer fields. Should this be part of the 30 page count, or should this information be uploaded separately?
A: As stated in Section 4.1 "Attachments/exhibits and information within the Vendor Submissions section are not included in this page limit."
Q (Evaluation Process): Within the RFP section outlining the Evaluation Process, is the Phase 3 evaluation info only needed in the interview phase?
A: Correct Phase 3 is part of the interview process which is also outlined in section 5, Interview Process.
Q (FFE and Basic Services Question): In Exhibit D_B133 FFE is discussed. What are your expectations for FFE under the basic services, and if procurement is part of that?
A: Exhibit D-A133. Article 4.1.1.1.27 Furniture, furnishings and equipment design – included in basic services should be struck.
SLED stands for State, Local, and Education. These are solicitations issued by state governments, counties, cities, school districts, utilities, and higher education institutions — as opposed to federal agencies.
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