The firms selected by Cobb County (Ga.) and the Braves to "manage construction" of the new ballpark in the Cumberland Mall area will be paid more than $40M to "oversee the three-year project," according to records cited by Dan Klepal of the ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION. American Builders 2017 -- a joint venture between Mortenson Construction, Brasfield & Gorrie, Barton Malow and New South Construction -- was selected May 27 as the construction manager for the 41,500-seat ballpark. American Builders, in addition to managing construction, will "hold costs to a 'Guaranteed Maximum Price' -- effectively a spending cap -- to complete the facility." The group will "be responsible for all costs over that maximum price, unless changes to the design of the stadium are ordered by the team or the county." American Builders "had the second-lowest bid on the project," saying that it would charge $30.6M for construction of the stadium, $8.4M for work at the stadium site and $997,000 for all pre-construction work. The joint venture of Clark-Skanska Construction "came in with a lower overall bid" at $37M. The other two bids "came in higher," with Turner Construction bidding $43M and a joint venture between Hunt and Holder companies bidding $47.5M. The bids, which "were evaluated by a panel that included county employees and Braves officials, were scored based on company experience, their interview with the panel, staffing and approach to the project." Those categories made up 85% of the score, and cost was "worth only" 10% (ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION, 6/7).
