Bids to build the UVI Research and Technology Park’s main facility were $5.2 million higher than available funds, so the park’s board is looking for ways to cut or delay costs, according to RTPark Director David Zumwalt on Thursday. On the bright side, however, Zumwalt noted that the park is bringing in more tenants … and revenue.
The park’s board met Wednesday and will be meeting again Jan. 27, in part to look into options for addressing the funding gap.
The RTPark is an economic-development initiative begun by the university. The main component will be housed in a 20,000-square-foot facility on UVI’s St. Croix campus. The RTPark has about $9 million set aside for building and setting up the facility. That includes about $3.5 million from the V.I. Public Finance Authority and another $5.5 million from the U.S. Department of Commerce.
After designs and cost estimates were prepared by Aramark Corp. and Architectural Alliance, requests for proposals were sent out late in 2009. Six qualifying bids were submitted, Zumwalt said. Omega Construction of Puerto Rico was lowest, bidding $11.2 million for the building and grounds.
"We found the low bid to be almost 25 percent higher than our internal best estimates," Zumwalt said Thursday.
Once the rest of the costs of getting a turnkey facility are taken into account, the total cost is about $14.2 million, leaving a shortfall of $5.2 million, Zumwalt said.
He added that bid prices might be higher now because local contractors are already pretty busy with other major St. Croix projects, such as the Diageo distillery.
"I can’t say for sure. We don’t know but that may be a reason," Zumwalt said. Also the environmentally friendly design of the building, using unusual techniques and materials may have driven up the costs, he speculated.
To get the Department of Commerce funding, the tech park was to have a contractor in place by the end of January, so the shortfall presented an immediate problem. But Commerce has extended that deadline by a year and a half, providing some breathing room, he said.
"I don’t know if I have control over this, but I don’t want the community to be too concerned about this," he said. "Now we know what it would cost, and we know what we have."
There are several options on the table and more being considered, he said.
"We might change things in the building, or we might change to a better time to do construction," he said. "But we are looking under every rock for ways to save money and to find more money."

On the Bright Side
Meanwhile, the RTPark is bringing in more tenants and more revenue.
"Last year we had about $355,000 in commercial revenues, and we are on track to see almost double that this year, so it is clear the park is working off commercial revenue gains and becoming self-sufficient," he said. Financial statements are not finalized yet, but the park took in $1.2 million in fiscal 2009.
Of that, $355,000 was commercial revenue, while the bulk ($810,000) was from the V.I. government. In the first three months of fiscal 2010, the park brought in $10,000 in commercial revenues and $175,000 in government funding. But RTPark anticipates collecting $700,000 from two new tenants, Tropical Tower and 13D Inc., within the next month and a half, he said.
The RTPark’s goal is to spur technology-based industries in the territory. Plans for the park began in 2001, and in 2002 the Legislature passed a charter and provided initial funding. Along with the planned complex at UVI, it also has a colocation facility—a type of data center with an uninterruptible power supply, where many customers locate their own network, server and storage equipment—on St. Croix’s northwest shore called 64 West, which leases hardware space inside Global Crossing’s data center on St. Croix.
Some, but not all of the companies will be at the colocation center and main facility. Its newest tenant, 13D, has offices in Red Hook on St. Thomas.
Through a subsidiary: RTPark-PC, the park provides substantial tax breaks and other incentives to contracting businesses, in exchange for which, companies commit to support technology education through internships and training, and through financial and underwriting and technical support for technology classes at UVI’s continuing education centers.