Danbury’s Morganti wins $78m contract for Platt Tech renovation in Milford
September 24, 2015
Robert Tripi, director of business development at Morganti, said the company won a so-called construction management at-risk contract by the state, which is increasingly relying on contractors to be involved early in a project’s design phase and guarantee a maximum price for the work.
“As the contractor we are obligated to make sure that we don’t exceed that price,” said Tripi. “It’s becoming the state’s preferred contract for any project over $20 million. The customer gets a lot of value added for having the contractor be involved early in the process. It’s become our preferred form of contracting and it works well with all kinds of projects.”
Morganti, which has more than 400 employees throughout the region, has created a niche for itself in recent years in public school construction. The company has completed more than $1.7 billion in school projects over the last decade, with 16 projects in Connecticut including renovations and expansion work at high schools in Newtown, Brookfield and Bethel.
The Platt school work involves renovation of about 208,000 square feet of the existing facility, which houses classrooms, shops, labs and offices, along with new additions totaling about 26,000 square feet. The building will be designed by Drummey, Rosane and Anderson Architects, of South Windor.
Nabil Takla, president and CEO of Morganti, said the company “is excited to start this project; we are looking forward to continuing our successful relationship with the state and DRA Architects to develop an exceptional place of learning for the students at Platt Technical High School.”
The Morganti Group Inc. is proud to announce the Platt Technical High School project award in Milford, Connecticut. The NewsTimes praised Morganti Inc. as they stated, "Morganti, which has more than 400 employees throughout the region, has created a niche for itself in recent years in public school construction. The company has completed more than $1.7 billion in school projects over the last decade, with 16 projects in Connecticut including renovations and expansion work at high schools in Newtown, Brookfield and Bethel."
The Platt Technical High School work involves renovating about 208,000 square feet of the existing buildings, which house classrooms, shops, labs, and offices, and new additions totaling approximately 26,000 square feet.
Tripi said one of the advantages that Morganti has over its competition is its focus on hiring local subcontractors.
“It’s a very important part of our business that we maximize the potential of our local small and minority owned businesses,” he said. “We have our own internal mentor protege program where we work with small and minority owned contractors to help them bid on projects they wouldn’t normally have the expertise to bid on themselves.”
Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton said the city is blessed to have a number of large contracting firms like Morganti.
“They do a really nice job in the community,” he said.
Boughton added that the city is using a similar kind of contract for its upcoming renovation of Danbury High School. While the city prefers most projects to be managed by its own in-house construction division, Boughton said the complexity of the project warrants hiring an outside company to oversee it.
He warned, however, that such contracts, while guaranteeing a price, can also come with a cost. If a project comes in under budget, he said, the contractor gets to keep the savings.
“When we used our in house construction division on our three elementary schools and one middle school we saved more than $5 million,” he said. “You really have to be careful when using this model and make sure that in the end, the taxpayer is still protected.”