CapMetro contracts point to growth

The Capital Metro Planning, Safety and Operations Committee did a good deal of foreshadowing July 13 regarding its future projects. Committee members unanimously placed $8.3 million in professional services contracts on the July 27 consent agenda. CapMetro’s two-year, $2 million pending contract with Freese and Nichols Inc. and Aken Industries is for construction observation work. According to Dottie Watkins, vice president of bus and paratransit services, CapMetro utilizes independent observers to better ensure that its construction projects comply with federal, state and local codes. CapMetro also introduced a $5 million engineering services contract for design and general infrastructure improvement work on its railroad and other transportation projects. HNTB Corp. and Huitt-Zollars Inc. are recommended for the five-year contract. A $1.3 million contract for professional real estate services is in the works as well. Board members will soon consider a two-year base contract modification with HDR Inc. for real estate services. The services will go toward CapMetro’s Plaza Saltillo development, an 11-acre site just east of I-35 in downtown Austin. This is CapMetro’s largest development project and could result in as many as 800 apartments as well as shops and a grocery store on the now-vacant lot that surrounds a MetroRail stop.