Fort Lauderdale pivots to P3 delivery for $170m stormwater overhaul to bypass design delays

Fort Lauderdale pivots to P3 delivery for $170m stormwater overhaul to bypass design delaysFacing a 16-month setback on a critical flood mitigation project due to utility conflicts, the Fort Lauderdale City Commission has opted to advance unsolicited public-private partnership proposals, opening a 21-day competitive window to finalize the deals.

The city is advancing unsolicited design-build proposals from MANCON and David Mancini and Sons for the Melrose Manor and Riverland stormwater projects.

Traditional design-bid-build was delayed by up to 16 months due to unforeseen FP&L undergrounding conflicts, pushing potential completion to 2031.

The combined projects involve 21 miles of drainage pipe, 1,200 drainage structures, and two pump stations.

MANCON's proposal for the Melrose portion is $91.8 million, roughly $11 million over the city's current estimate.

The commission approved a 21-day competitive bidding period before finalizing the comprehensive agreements.

The Fort Lauderdale City Commission voted on May 5, 2026, to abandon its traditional design-bid-build procurement for the Melrose Manor and Riverland stormwater improvement projects, pivoting instead to a public-private partnership (P3) model to bypass severe design delays. The city received unsolicited design-build proposals from MANCON and David Mancini and Sons in December 2025 to deliver the projects. The combined scope of the Fortified Lauderdale initiative includes 21 miles of drainage pipe, 1,200 drainage structures, two water quality structures, two stormwater pump stations, and associated water and sanitary sewer line relocations. Public Works Director Brad Kane informed the commission that the city's traditional design phase, currently at the 60% mark, faced a 16-month setback due to newly discovered conflicts with Florida Power & Light (FP&L) undergrounding projects. Under the city's original timeline, design would not be completed until the summer of 2027, pushing final construction completion to between 2029 and 2031. In contrast, the unsolicited P3 proposals offer a guaranteed maximum price and a two-year timeline from the notice to proceed. "If we gave them an NTP in July, they would have substantial completion by July of 2028," Kane noted. The neighborhoods currently feature "zero infrastructure" and function as literal bowls collecting water during heavy rain events, according to David Mancini, who addressed the commission. By shifting to a design-build format, the contractors plan to design and construct the project in critical phases. Mancini noted that within three months, his firm could install initial pipes and catch basins, allowing for the deployment of temporary high-capacity pumps to divert floodwater into state-managed drainage systems during the upcoming rainy season. The accelerated timeline comes at a premium. The city's current estimate for the Melrose Manor portion is $80.9 million, while MANCON's guaranteed maximum price proposal came in at $91.8 million. The Riverland portion, proposed by David Mancini and Sons, also came in higher than the city's $84 million estimate. Kane noted that the contractors' prices include built-in contingencies to absorb the risk of the FP&L utility conflicts and ongoing site management. Despite the higher upfront capital costs—which total roughly $170 million across both neighborhoods—the commission agreed that delaying the project would likely result in even higher costs due to inflation and construction escalations. Furthermore, the Mayor highlighted the long-term financial reality of the infrastructure investment, noting that with 30-year bond financing and ongoing operations and maintenance, the true lifecycle cost of the stormwater mitigation efforts will exceed $500 million. To comply with Florida's statutory requirements for unsolicited P3 proposals, the commission approved walk-on resolutions issuing a notice of intent to enter into comprehensive agreements for both projects. The city will now open a 21-day competitive bidding window to invite alternative proposals before officially awarding the contracts.