The Dormitory Authority of the State of New York (DASNY) lists Dec. 9, 2026, as the bid date for the renovation of Aaron Davis Hall at The City College of New York in Manhattan, a job DASNY puts at an estimated $45 million to $48 million and has invited five short-listed general contractors to bid, according to DASNY's solicitation page.
The five, as the page prints their names, are EW Howell Construction Group, Iannelli Construction Co., Inc., Kokolakis, Volmar Construction, Inc. and Constructomics, LLC. Sixteen firms are on the page's long list of firms that submitted expressions of interest, and its interested subs and suppliers list has 61 entries as of Nov. 4. DASNY issued the solicitation Aug. 7 and took expressions of interest until 2 p.m. Sept. 10, and the page said a committee would score the packages and invite qualified firms to bid. Sept. 10 was the deadline for expressions of interest, not for bids. The page lists the Dec. 9 bid date without a time.
“Each bid must carry a separately sealed list naming who will do its HVAC, plumbing and electric work and the price for each, DASNY's Information for Bidders says.”
DASNY's page also carries a notice saying the posted drawings and specifications "do not reflect 100% construction / bid documents," that the documents "are for reference only," and that finalized bid documents "shall be distributed to the qualified contractors invited to bid." The files the page links date from Aug. 5. The bid documents The RFI Wire reviewed are a later set: a 3,314-page project manual with an Information for Bidders dated Oct. 14, 2026, a 394-sheet drawing set marked issued for bid that day, and the same Addendum No. 1 the page posts. The page does not link that later set. Everything below that is not attributed to the page describes it.
The Information for Bidders set a pre-bid meeting for 10 a.m. Nov. 4 at DASNY's field office at 138th Street and St. Nicholas Terrace and a mandatory pre-award meeting for the apparent low bidder at 11 a.m. Dec. 15. The project manual prints no bid date or time, and the Notice to Bidders listed in its table of contents is not in it, according to The RFI Wire's review of all 3,314 pages.
The drawing set shows one building with two theaters, the Marian Anderson Theater and Theater B, according to its sheet titles, and its code summary sheet prints 68,738 gross square feet across seven levels and areas, by The RFI Wire's sum. The specifications cover replacement hardware on 50 existing stage counterweight sets, a fire curtain, a stage lift, theatrical lighting controls, audio-visual systems, one new elevator and a wheelchair lift, fixed seating, custom air-handling units, a new roof with a terrace, about 600 cubic yards of non-hazardous contaminated soil and about 12,015 square feet and 2 linear feet of asbestos-containing material in ten work areas, according to the project manual.
The work is one prime contract, number C1708. Each bid must carry a separately sealed list naming who will do its HVAC, plumbing and electric work, including the bidder itself if it self-performs, and the price for each, under General Municipal Law Section 101(5), according to the Information for Bidders. After the low bid is read, DASNY opens that bidder's list and announces the names; the other lists go back sealed. Subcontract dollars may not exceed 75% of the contract price, a limit DASNY may change at any time, even after bids. That leaves at least a quarter of the contract price, about $11.25 million to $12 million on the estimate by The RFI Wire's math, with the prime.
Bidders post 5% bid security, and the winner furnishes payment and performance bonds each for 100% of the contract. Substantial completion is due no later than Aug. 29, 2029, and DASNY may assess liquidated damages of $2,000 per calendar day after that, according to the Information for Bidders.
A project labor agreement applies: the low bidder signs it within five days of DASNY's pre-award letter, and every subcontractor of every tier signs a letter of assent, according to the Information for Bidders. Its goals are 18% minority-owned, 12% women-owned and 6% service-disabled veteran-owned businesses, plus a 45% minority and women workforce. DASNY's page calls the same figures "anticipated" and says the owner "will determine" the goals when finalized documents go to the invited firms. Only firms certified by Empire State Development earn M/WBE credit, the Information for Bidders says. On the estimate, the minority-owned and women-owned goals add up to about $13.5 million to $14.4 million by The RFI Wire's math.
Several specialty sections name suppliers. The stage rigging section names InterAmerica Stage, I Weiss and Wenger Corporation and requires any other firm to submit its history, completed installations, shop drawings and references 10 days before bids. The theatrical lighting controls section names Electronic Theatre Controls as the only manufacturer, with substitutions allowed on prior approval of the architect, engineer, theater consultant or owner. The stage lift section lists Spiralift and LinkLift as acceptable systems. The audio-visual section required a qualification package by the scheduled time of the Nov. 4 pre-bid meeting and requires notice of conflicts and discrepancies to the architect and consultant at least 14 days before the bid opening, according to the project manual.
The RFI Wire emailed DASNY's press office at 12:58 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 4, with questions about the bid time, whether the Oct. 14 documents are final, which contract carries the abatement work, the template text in some sections and whether the M/WBE goals are final. This story reports the documents as The RFI Wire read them Nov. 4. A DASNY response will be added here as a dated update.
The Information for Bidders says prospective bidders' written requests for an interpretation must reach DASNY at least 10 days before the opening, that only written addenda bind, and that addenda go to firms recorded as holding the documents. For a Dec. 9 opening the request cutoff is Nov. 29, a Sunday, by The RFI Wire's count.
The title, DASNY's page and the drawing sheet titles put asbestos abatement inside this contract, and the project manual carries a full asbestos specification that assigns the contractor permit filings and air monitoring. Two passages read the other way. The asbestos section says its work is "early work" to be done "prior to the overall contract award," in template text that still carries an unedited "(Describe in detail or indicate "None")" prompt. The site-demolition section says "It is not expected that hazardous materials will be encountered in the Work," tells the contractor not to disturb suspect materials and to notify DASNY, and says hazardous materials "will be removed under a separate contract." The summary of work says the general construction contract covers all work depicted on the drawings and specifications.
Parts of the project manual carry unfilled template text and older stamps. The indoor custom air-handling-unit section has 527 blank "
What to do next
If you are a sub or supplier, your way into this job is a price to one of the five invited firms, and the page's interested-subs list already has 61 entries. DASNY's notice says the final bid documents go to the invited firms, so ask the firm you price to whether it holds them. If your trade is HVAC, plumbing or electric, each bid must name who does that work and at what price in the sealed list, so your number has to reach the prime before bids open Dec. 9.
If you count toward the goals, check your certificate. The Information for Bidders says only firms certified by Empire State Development earn M/WBE credit, so on that wording a firm certified only by New York City would not count toward the M/WBE goals. Every subcontractor of every tier signs the project labor agreement's letter of assent.
If you bid audio-visual, the qualification package was due at the Nov. 4 pre-bid meeting time, so ask the firm you price to whether it was met. If you bid rigging, a firm outside the three named must submit its history and references 10 days before bids, which is Nov. 29 for a Dec. 9 opening, and audio-visual notices of conflicts are due 14 days before the opening, Nov. 25.
If you are one of the five, send written questions to the contacts DASNY's page designates, by Friday, Nov. 27, the last business day before the Nov. 29 cutoff. DASNY's page warns that contacts with other DASNY staff "may disqualify the Offerer," so any other firm's questions go through the firm it prices to. Questions worth putting: whether the "early work" and "separate contract" passages apply to C1708, whether a Notice to Bidders with a bid time and a new addendum are coming, and which sections are final. Only written addenda bind.
*This is a reading of the posted and issued documents, not legal advice. The Information for Bidders and any addendum control.*