Bids are in for Buford Middle School project
The City of Charlottesville has received three bids from construction firms who want to work on the renovation of Buford Middle School, two of which have base prices below the planned budget of around $78 million.
However, all three are above that budgeted amount when their prices for four additional items are factored in. This leaves lots of options for the city moving forward.
“We will be working with the Budget Office to lay out a set of options, including what additive bid items the City may want to purchase, which were included in the bid package,” said Michael Goddard, Charlottesville’s facilities development manager.

Nielsen Builders submitted a base bid of $71,414,146 and Branch Builders submitted one of $73,849,000. The base bid from Cleveland Construction would be at $78,252,000.
Four “additive bid items” were separated out of the main project out of concerns that the entire project would be over budget. These options are:
- Additive item #1 – Parking, Play Courts, and Walking Track west of the loop road
- Additive item #2 – Area F renovation area and addition to auditorium building
- Additive item #3 – Dining Terrace
- Additive item #4 – Garden
Nielsen Builders’ bid with the additive items comes to $79,237,646.
The total bid from Branch Builds is over $8.59 million and the total bid from Cleveland Construction came in at $8.783 million.

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