HIGHLIGHTS AND ACHIEVEMENTS

Project Design:

• M&F is working to respond to the last few comments regarding interiors and vibration isolation. M&F is also resolving the design solution to the "skateboard" sloped plaza slab over the Main Street parking garage entry.
  

Construction:

• Scrim panel installation on the east and west facades is 90% complete and installation of the associated pneumatic tubing on the building exterior has been completed. Installation of the scrim operator pistons is underway and an operating scrim panel mockup has been activated on the east elevation.
  

• Installation of the support steel for the precast concrete panels on the plaza has been completed. Precast panels are to be delivered to the site in early March.

• Model Glass has completed the strip windows installation on all elevations. Fill in of waterproofing and glazing continued at the former manlift location.

• Installation of elevators cabs, wiring and entrances continued. The service and ADA cabs continue to operate smoothly.

• Interior work is progressing on all levels, the 5th floor being the most complete, followed by the 2nd floor. Floors continue to be finished from bottom to top.

• The project team reviewed and accepted with comments the tile installation in the 5th floor mockup.

Annotated Design Guidelines and Project Specifications - Change Order #27 was signed by the State and M&F, concluding the preparation and acceptance of the annotated design guidelines and performance criteria.

Modular Furniture: Fabrication drawings for all floors continued to be developed by the Keller Group and are being reviewed by DGS and Caltrans as they are completed. Electronic files of floors 1 through 8 have been transmitted to M&F to locate floor penetrations for installation of voice/data and power distribution.

Land Exchange: Recording of the grant deed for exchange of the 1st Street Properties from the City of Los Angeles to the State occurred on February 6, 2004, thus completing the first phase of the land exchange which will be concluded in 2005 with the State's transfer of the existing Caltrans District 7 HQ site, after demolition is completed.

Irrevocable Permit (Permanent Encroachment Easement): Documents have been submitted and are being reviewed by the City of Los Angeles' Department of Public Works, which is to respond by the end of April 2004.

Public Art Program: Meetings between all subcontractors and design team members involved with the Keith Sonnier art piece were held at which the installation schedule was reviewed and potential sub-trade coordination issues were discussed. Work continued to install the vertical art piece angles for Keith Sonnier's piece. The public art pieces by Alan Rath and Renee Green continue to be in their shop drawing phases. The rough-ins for the "Fiver" art piece are to be installed in place mid-March. Marc Pally continues to help coordinate with M&F and the artists in processing payment and art piece coordination issues. Marc Pally and the M&F representatives will be present at the early April owner's meeting to update the State on the progress of the art in the building.

Project Budget: A total of $3,441,550 in change orders has been executed, with $1,225,731 in open PCO's remaining through February 2004, resulting in an available project contingency of $1,245,007. Three change orders were executed this month for a total increase to the M&F's contract of $3,355. Also, URS contract was increased by $116,900 for continued work of a Site Manager. See the Financial Report in the Appendix for further details.

11th Floor Tenant: RESD continues to search for State tenant's to occupy the space.

Retail Space - California Bear Credit Union has elected to employ their own design/build contractor who is currently preparing a space plan that will be forwarded to the State by mid March to include in the Lease documents.

Public Utility Incentive Funding: Though The Gas Company's commitment for $356,805 has been received; the similar commitment from LADWP has not and remains a critical issue. The project team is working on a project advancement report due to The Gas Company on April 4th. A meeting is scheduled for early March with LADWP to discuss their energy savings incentive program focused on HVAC chiller design. Finally, M&F (Ove Arup) is following up with The Gas Company regarding status of the Savings in Design Program.

SBE/DVBE: Currently, M&F has attained 50% of the overall Small Business Enterprise goal and 63% of the overall Disabled Veteran Business Enterprise goals for the project. In addition, URS contracted level remains at approximately 66% of the 3% DVBE requirement contained in its contract through the use of a DVBE cost estimator.
Move Coordination - Caltrans

CRITICAL ISSUES

LADOT Lease: As of the end of February, the lease document has not been agreed upon and negotiations between the legal staffs of the City of LA and the State are continuing. The project team successfully worked with the City to agree on the project scope revisions necessary to reduce the tenant improvement budget to $5M. Construction of the LADOT space on floors 9 and 10 continues.

Traffic Management Center (TMC) - The TMC remains behind schedule. A recovery schedule based on a six day work week may result in the project's completion by mid September, but more likely mid October 2004. With the six-month switch over schedule required by CT7, the existing TMC will not be fully vacated until April 2005, thus delaying the start of demolition of the existing headquarters building.

Public Utility Incentive Funding: Although a commitment letter was received when the economics were prepared and approved, the final commitment to fund $455,000 has still not been obtained.

LEED Certification - The latest update of M&F's LEED consultant's credit summary indicates that two credits, previously thought to be safe, are now questionable, leaving the project with only 31 credits, which are two credits short of a Silver Certification. The project team is studying all credits potentials and will resolve the two now in question. Please see the Project Status section for more detail.