Renovations to Bayfront Tower
Bayfront Tower is currently deep into a $10 million dollar renovation. These renovations, which have been approved by a majority of Bayfront Tower owners and residents, include a new roof, new air conditioning systems, updating the lobby, elevators and balconies, as well as all the social areas.
If you'd like to read the Bayfront Tower Master Plan 2010-2015 please click on this link.
If you'd like to read the Bayfront Tower Master Plan 2010-2015 please click on this link.
A huge crane lifts equipment to the BFT roof
The Bayfront Tower was originally constructed in the mid-1970s. By 2010 it had become apparent that the aging building merited consideration of improvements related to common area utility and appearance, aging infrastructure and out-dated life safety systems.
In the Spring of 2010 the Board decided to retain an architect and an engineering team, to evaluate the state of the building and make comprehensive, prioritized recommendations for improvements. This report was to be in the form of a Master Facility Plan (MFP). Five architects were invited, three responded and two were interviewed. Wannemacher Jensen Architects of St. Petersburg were awarded the contract. Karins Engineering was also hired to prepare an evaluation of the building envelope under a separate contract.
In addition to preparing technical evaluations based upon observations and testing, the architect met with owner groups, the Board of Directors, realtors from the community and others to assess what improvements should be considered to sustain and enhance quality of life and investment at Bayfront Tower. These findings and recommendations were presented to the Association in a series of open meetings. Comments were taken and the final report was bound and published to the Board. Critical to continuation of the process, all recommendations were summarized in a comprehensive spreadsheet that organized the projects with brief comments, priority and projected costs. This process took about a year to complete to assure that it was thorough and all owners had multiple opportunities to offer input.
In August of 2012, the Board decided that it was necessary to retain a Construction Manager to combine the individual items into cost effective construction projects, and a Request For Proposals went out to five construction managers. Three submitted proposals and were interviewed. Creative Contractors Inc. of Clearwater was retained in late October as the Construction Manager for the MFP. Using the MFP project summary spreadsheet as a guide, the Board conducted a series of open workshops with the architects, engineers and the construction manager to obtain a thorough understanding of the implications of each work item. Through this process the MFP Team was able to refine project scopes and priorities and ultimately aggregated the projects into two phases.
Phase 1, (referred to as “package 1”) commenced in 2013, consisted of infrastructure replacements and improvements combined with life safety upgrades required by the City of St. Petersburg. This work scope includes replacement of many original and aged components of the mechanical and electrical systems, automatic sprinklers in the garage, a new roof, fire alarm system upgrades and a modern stairway pressurization system for the fire stairs to enhance safe emergency egress in a high-rise building. Many of the items in this Package 1 would typically have been replaced over a period of years, but because of the decision to accelerate their replacement, significant cost savings were achieved.
Phase 2, to be designed in 2014 and constructed in 2015 includes discretionary enhancements to the common areas deemed to be affordable within the overall financing plan. The Association voted to proceed with these enhancements since they constituted material alterations of the Common Areas. This work will primarily address the building exterior, breezeway, lobby and 28th floor.
To assure that the Board’s decisions regarding the scope and cost of the MFP reflected the views of members of the Association, numerous forums were made available for owner input with regard to understanding the work and influencing design and priorities.
Once the overall MFP scope of desirable projects was formulated and finalized by the Board, the Finance Committee worked with Karins Engineering to develop a new, intergrated Reserve Study to determine required reserve contributions to support financing of the work. The Association was able to take advantage of very low interest financing available at this time. Ultimately, the Board recommended that $10 million be financed through a combination of a ten year fixed rate loan from a Bank and supplemental reserve contributions through maintenance fees. The impact to an Owner was fixed at about an average of $100 per month for the ten year duration.
All work of the MFP is anticipated to be completed by the end of 2015.
Complementing this enterprise, new glass balcony railings are being installed throughout the building to improve safety in accordance with contemporary building code requirements, while also enhancing the appearance of the building and investment appeal.
Additionally, starting in 2012, the Association has supported individual unit owners replacing their original window systems with new, elegant hurricane-hardened and code compliant windows, further enhancing the building’s safety, appearance and appeal.
All of these improvements have been undertaken with enthusiastic support from much of the Association. And, all of these improvements sustain and enhance the value of our property and the quality of life at Bayfront Tower.
To read a January 12, 2014 article from the Tampa Bay about the BFT renovations, click on this link.
In the Spring of 2010 the Board decided to retain an architect and an engineering team, to evaluate the state of the building and make comprehensive, prioritized recommendations for improvements. This report was to be in the form of a Master Facility Plan (MFP). Five architects were invited, three responded and two were interviewed. Wannemacher Jensen Architects of St. Petersburg were awarded the contract. Karins Engineering was also hired to prepare an evaluation of the building envelope under a separate contract.
In addition to preparing technical evaluations based upon observations and testing, the architect met with owner groups, the Board of Directors, realtors from the community and others to assess what improvements should be considered to sustain and enhance quality of life and investment at Bayfront Tower. These findings and recommendations were presented to the Association in a series of open meetings. Comments were taken and the final report was bound and published to the Board. Critical to continuation of the process, all recommendations were summarized in a comprehensive spreadsheet that organized the projects with brief comments, priority and projected costs. This process took about a year to complete to assure that it was thorough and all owners had multiple opportunities to offer input.
In August of 2012, the Board decided that it was necessary to retain a Construction Manager to combine the individual items into cost effective construction projects, and a Request For Proposals went out to five construction managers. Three submitted proposals and were interviewed. Creative Contractors Inc. of Clearwater was retained in late October as the Construction Manager for the MFP. Using the MFP project summary spreadsheet as a guide, the Board conducted a series of open workshops with the architects, engineers and the construction manager to obtain a thorough understanding of the implications of each work item. Through this process the MFP Team was able to refine project scopes and priorities and ultimately aggregated the projects into two phases.
Phase 1, (referred to as “package 1”) commenced in 2013, consisted of infrastructure replacements and improvements combined with life safety upgrades required by the City of St. Petersburg. This work scope includes replacement of many original and aged components of the mechanical and electrical systems, automatic sprinklers in the garage, a new roof, fire alarm system upgrades and a modern stairway pressurization system for the fire stairs to enhance safe emergency egress in a high-rise building. Many of the items in this Package 1 would typically have been replaced over a period of years, but because of the decision to accelerate their replacement, significant cost savings were achieved.
Phase 2, to be designed in 2014 and constructed in 2015 includes discretionary enhancements to the common areas deemed to be affordable within the overall financing plan. The Association voted to proceed with these enhancements since they constituted material alterations of the Common Areas. This work will primarily address the building exterior, breezeway, lobby and 28th floor.
To assure that the Board’s decisions regarding the scope and cost of the MFP reflected the views of members of the Association, numerous forums were made available for owner input with regard to understanding the work and influencing design and priorities.
Once the overall MFP scope of desirable projects was formulated and finalized by the Board, the Finance Committee worked with Karins Engineering to develop a new, intergrated Reserve Study to determine required reserve contributions to support financing of the work. The Association was able to take advantage of very low interest financing available at this time. Ultimately, the Board recommended that $10 million be financed through a combination of a ten year fixed rate loan from a Bank and supplemental reserve contributions through maintenance fees. The impact to an Owner was fixed at about an average of $100 per month for the ten year duration.
All work of the MFP is anticipated to be completed by the end of 2015.
Complementing this enterprise, new glass balcony railings are being installed throughout the building to improve safety in accordance with contemporary building code requirements, while also enhancing the appearance of the building and investment appeal.
Additionally, starting in 2012, the Association has supported individual unit owners replacing their original window systems with new, elegant hurricane-hardened and code compliant windows, further enhancing the building’s safety, appearance and appeal.
All of these improvements have been undertaken with enthusiastic support from much of the Association. And, all of these improvements sustain and enhance the value of our property and the quality of life at Bayfront Tower.
To read a January 12, 2014 article from the Tampa Bay about the BFT renovations, click on this link.