Construction is set to begin in a few weeks on the 1,933-space parking garage that will serve the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center at the National Harbor development, according to a bid notice issued by the company administering the project’s minority business enterprise program.
The project, rising along the banks of the Potomac River just south of the Woodrow Wilson Bridge, is the largest of its kind in the region. The 300-acre site eventually will have a mix of office, residential and retail space as well as the 2,000-room Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center.
Oncore Construction of Bladensburg has been hired to pour the garage’s foundation, according to a notice issued last week by The TAC Companies, a consulting and management company headquartered in Wilmington, Del. According to company’s Web site, the firm has worked on dozens of projects in the region including university libraries, malls and government facilities.
The precast concrete portion of the project will be completed by Winchester firm Shockey Precast. That company’s Web site said it has worked on more than 227 parking facilities in its 53 years.
Neither companyis considered a minority-owned business enterprise by databases maintained by the county or Maryland. This summer, the County Council scrutinized the percentage of contracts awarded to minority-owned businesses as part of a 500-room expansion under consideration at the time.
The $700 million Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center is expected to open in spring 2008. Bookings for the resort’s hotel rooms and convention center in anticipation of its opening had hit about 646,000 at the end of June.
