Gilbane and Marvel Deliver $128M Brownsville Center Under Budget

Gilbane Building Co. has completed a $128 million project in New York City $10 million under budget and two years ahead of schedule, according to a Monday announcement from the city.

The project is the Brownsville Multi-Service Center, a four-story, 60,000-square-foot building that will serve various community organizations in Brooklyn, per the announcement. Providence, Rhode Island-based Gilbane delivered the job in a design-build partnership with New York City-based architecture firm Marvel.

The structure was designed to meet New York City's climate resilience standards, per the announcement. The all-electric building includes solar panels across three floors and is expected to meet or exceed LEED Gold certification.

What the building contains

The Brownsville Multi-Service Center features 10 office spaces, three combinable conference rooms, a commercial kitchen, a 1,600-square-foot outdoor community garden, green roofs and public artwork, per the announcement.

How design-build saved time and money

The delivery method shaped the schedule. Because the project used design-build, Gilbane collaborated with Marvel and other team members earlier, matching key decisions with the building schedule, Raquel Diaz, vice president and New York City business leader for Gilbane, told Construction Dive via email.

"The Brownsville Multi-Service Center shows the value design-build can bring to complex public projects," Diaz said.

The project also featured a two-step procurement as part of that design-build process. That allowed the team to get Gilbane up to speed and front load work that typically comes after an award, Jade Bailey, assistant commissioner for alternative delivery at the city's Department of Design & Construction, told Construction Dive.

In this case, Gilbane overlayed the demolition of the previous structure while the team worked on the new building's design. That sequencing saved the team time and money, Bailey said.

"It's another feather in the cap for design-build," Bailey said.

Clean construction milestone

The all-electric build also represents a culmination of the city's clean construction efforts. Those include a mass timber studio and Executive Order 23, a 2022 order signed by former Mayor Eric Adams that directs the city's construction agencies to use clean and sustainable construction practices.

With the Brownsville Multi-Service Center finished under budget and ahead of schedule, the project stands as a data point for New York City as it continues to apply design-build delivery and clean construction mandates across its public building pipeline.