The Los Angeles harbor commission has rejected all three prospective bids to complete a final portion of the Wilmington Waterfront, so the Port of L.A. will now launch an expedited process to collect another round of proposals.
Port of Los Angeles officials announced the expedited process during the Thursday, Dec. 4, harbor commission meeting at which the panel rejected the original bids.
The reasons the harbor commission shot down the bids in the initial round were varied but were primarily technical in nature, including not meeting a “small or very-small” business requirement in one case and being non-responsive to specific items requested in another, said Port of L.A. Assistant Chief Harbor Engineer Mark Rose.
The move was needed, according to the board report, “to avoid bid protest litigation that could jeopardize the grant funding, and to ensure the most competitive bids and lowest cost to the Harbor Department.”
By Thursday afternoon, Rose said, a new, expedited process would relaunch with a virtual pre-bid meeting being set for Wednesday, Dec. 10, to outline the requirements for prospective bidders. Bids will officially open on Dec. 21, he said, with a plan to award the contract on Jan. 6.
Part of the need to expedite the process despite the busy holiday season, Rose said, is to ensure that some of the existing grant money that is available would not expire or be jeopardized.
Rose also told commissioners that a thorough review of the first round on the port’s end has resulted in clarifications and some changes to the process that officials hope will avoid issues encountered in the initial set of applications.
The proposed Avalon Pedestrian Bridge and Promenade Gateway project will connect the Wilmington community to the now-finished Wilmington Waterfront Promenade and Banning’s Landing Community Center, and add 12 more acres of open space to the overall development.
The project calls for the construction of an arched, concrete pedestrian bridge that would link the finished waterfront — which opened in February 2024 — to the community’s historic Avalon Boulevard downtown district, providing direct access over Water Street and the freight rail tracks. Included would be a large sundial, landscaped play areas, parking lots and restrooms. It is estimated to be finished in September 2028.
Cost estimates have been reported to run more than $80 million.
The now-finished portion of the Wilmington waterfront cost $77.3 million and features open play areas, full water views and walkways, a pier that juts out over the water with swings, a trampoline and other amenities. That initial 9-acre completed site was designed to create a “window on the waterfront” and is located next to the Banning’s Landing Community Center at the foot of Avalon Boulevard.