Solicitation
Phase 2 Construct Arabian Leopard Exhibit at the National Zoological Park
Smithsonian Institution
More open Smithsonian Institution contracts
AI summaryStep Two of a two-step buy for Phase 2 (the Habitats and Animal Care Building): only the three firms prequalified in Step One (Grunley, Consigli, Whiting-Turner) can send proposals, due November 13, 2026, 3:00 PM Eastern (an amendment moved it to Nov 20, 2026, 3:00 PM EST). The Smithsonian Institution will award a firm-fixed-price (FFP: one set price, whatever the work ends up costing) construction contract for the Arabian Leopard Facility at the National Zoological Park in Washington, DC. The Government's estimate is over $10,000,000, and the work runs 578 calendar days from the notice to proceed (the written go-ahead to start). More in the summary
A newer version of this notice was posted Oct 20, 2026. It moves the due date from Nov 13, 2026 to Nov 20, 2026, which is the date shown on this page. See the latest version.
AI summary Beta
Summary of the version posted Oct 13, 2026. The notice was amended Oct 20, 2026. The due date moved from Nov 13, 2026 to Nov 20, 2026. Check what else changed on SAM.gov. This summary may miss requirements: 4 of 8 attachments weren't read (65 DD Specs.pdf, 2026-09-08 PN 2533105 ALF Phase 2 Step 2 Multi-Year Funding FINAL DRAFT.xlsx and 2 more). Check the attachments on SAM.gov.
Step Two of a two-step buy for Phase 2 (the Habitats and Animal Care Building): only the three firms prequalified in Step One (Grunley, Consigli, Whiting-Turner) can send proposals, due November 13, 2026, 3:00 PM Eastern. The Smithsonian Institution will award a firm-fixed-price (FFP: one set price, whatever the work ends up costing) construction contract for the Arabian Leopard Facility at the National Zoological Park in Washington, DC. The Government's estimate is over $10,000,000, and the work runs 578 calendar days from the notice to proceed (the written go-ahead to start).
Who can bid
- Only the three firms prequalified in Step One can send proposals: Grunley, Consigli, and The Whiting-Turner Contracting Company
- Be experienced and fully qualified in the project's critical elements, such as working in an occupied historic campus with animals, specialty animal doors, radiant flooring, shotcrete faux rock and BIM
How to submit: Upload PDF files to the Dropbox file request link in the RFP (https://www.dropbox.com/request/WjDoOyI1YLjWVLZVx4SD), due November 13, 2026, 3:00 PM Eastern. What to include is under Full summary below. Check the solicitation's instructions on SAM.gov.
Things to watch (13)
- Serious: Only three prequalified firms can bid. Offers are accepted only from Grunley, Consigli and Whiting-Turner, so any other business cannot send a proposal and could only be a subcontractor.
- Serious: Step Two of a two-step buy. This is Step Two (technical and pricing proposals) for Phase 2, open only to the firms prequalified in Step One; Phase 1 early site work was awarded separately.
- Serious: Performance and payment bonds required before work starts. A performance bond (a surety's promise that the work will be finished) and a payment bond (a promise that subs and suppliers get paid) must be in place before the notice to proceed.
Show all 13Show fewer
- Worth checking: No extension of the November 13, 2026 response due date expected. The Smithsonian says the technical and pricing deadline is firm and, when asked for more time, declined to move it.
- Worth checking: Date passed (Oct 19, 2026): Final drawings and specifications issued after the first posting. The proposal is priced from 65% design drawings until the 100% final set is released; Amendment 0003 gives October 19, 2026 (the RFP said October 12, 2026; a posted answer said October 13, 2026).
- Worth checking: Only $4,000,000 set aside for FY 2027. Funding beyond $4,000,000 depends on funds becoming available; a posted answer says more FY 2027 money will be added if needed and payment applications are validated.
- Worth checking: At least 12% self-performance. The prime must do at least 12 percent of the work with its own crews; the Smithsonian will not reduce this.
- Worth checking: 40% small business subcontracting goal and plan with the proposal. The Subcontracting Plan is a separate PDF due with the proposal, with a goal of at least 40 percent of subcontracting dollars to small businesses.
- Worth checking: Price must be all-inclusive. Bidders may not add assumptions, exclusions or qualifications to the price, so all risk must be priced in.
- Worth checking: Daytime weekday work only in an active zoo. Normal hours are 6:00 AM to 3:30 PM with no weekend or night work in the current timeline; deliveries and dumpster pulls happen outside zoo visitor hours.
- Worth checking: Buy American rules apply with no exceptions. Materials and products must meet the Buy American requirement (FAR 52.225-11 and 52.225-12); the solicitation grants no exceptions.
- Minor: The site visit was Oct 23, 2026. Check the notice and its amendments for whether attendance was required, and whether another visit is offered.
- Minor: Step One solicitation number differs between documents. The notice gives Step One as 33330226FT0010005 while the RFP gives 33330226RT0010005; ask the contracting office which is right.
Read from the notice and 4 attachments. 4 of 8 not read. Show which files.
- RFP 33330226RT0010015 Arabian Leopard.pdf (read)
- 33330226RT0010015 Amendment 0003.pdf (read)
- 33330226RT0010015 Amendment 0002.pdf (read)
- 33330226RT0010015 Amendment 0001.pdf (read)
- 65 DD Specs.pdf: not read (it couldn't be opened): open it on SAM.gov
- 2026-09-08 PN 2533105 ALF Phase 2 Step 2 Multi-Year Funding FINAL DRAFT.xlsx: not read (the AI doesn't read this file type yet): open it on SAM.gov
- 65 DD Drawings_ Part 1.pdf: not read (it couldn't be opened): open it on SAM.gov
- 65 DD Drawings_Part 2.pdf: not read (it couldn't be opened): open it on SAM.gov
Full summary
What they want
- Build Phase 2 of the Arabian Leopard Facility: two 30-foot-high mesh-enclosed outdoor habitats (East and West), a smaller off-view habitat, and an animal care building with leopard dens, a cubbing den, a quarantine stall, a day room and staff areas
- Install specialty items: animal doors, transfer systems and manually operated remote door controls; radiant flooring; animal containment fencing, mesh and transfer chutes; shotcrete faux rock and faux trees
- Work inside an occupied, historic zoo campus: limit sound and vibration near animals and fit around feeding schedules, zoo hours, veterinary care and public events
- Take over site logistics from the Phase 1 (early site work) contractor: laydown area, erosion and sediment control, sound wall, security fence and temporary utilities; remove the sound wall at the end of Phase 2
- Do all site grading; Phase 1 does only demolition and utility bypass work
- Pay Davis-Bacon wages (federal minimum pay for construction workers) under Building wage determination DC20260002 and Heavy wage determination DC20260001
- Use Building Information Modeling (BIM: a shared 3D digital model of the building) and track waste from demolition; the Smithsonian says there is no formal LEED (green building rating) certification level required
- Provide a cost-loaded schedule (a schedule tied to payment amounts) at the start of the project; regular critical path method (CPM) schedule updates are acceptable at the technical representative's discretion
- Contract type
- Firm-fixed-price construction contract
- Period of performance
- 578 calendar days from the notice to proceed (NTP), through final completion; the RFP says NTP in February 2027 and completion in September 2028
- Place of performance
- Smithsonian National Zoological Park, 3001 Connecticut Ave NW, Washington, DC 20008
- Estimated value
- The Smithsonian's (Government's) estimate for the firm fixed price is over $10,000,000; $4,000,000 is set aside for the first fiscal year (FY 2027)
- Offers due
- November 13, 2026, 3:00 PM Eastern (from the version posted Oct 13, 2026; amended since)
- How to submit
- Upload PDF files to the Dropbox file request link in the RFP (https://www.dropbox.com/request/WjDoOyI1YLjWVLZVx4SD)
What to include when you submit
- Send three separate PDF files: Technical proposal, Cost (pricing) proposal, and Subcontracting Plan
- Cost proposal: the Price Proposal Form (the revised Bid Schedule dated October 9, 2026), the Multi-Year Funding Document, and completed Representations and Certifications (Section K)
- Multi-Year Funding Document: FY 2027 total is $4,000,000 and the rest of the price goes in FY 2028; include any termination cost if later-year funds are not appropriated
- Price must be all-inclusive: assumptions, exclusions or qualifications that affect the firm fixed price are not allowed
- Bid Schedule breaks the price into trade divisions with overhead, profit and bonds and insurance; micropile unit prices are listed separately and are not added to the total price
- Subcontracting Plan goes in with the proposal and must include everything FAR 52.219-9(d) requires; no form is provided. The goal is at least 40% of planned subcontracting dollars to small businesses
- Technical proposal Tab 09 (Resumes): five resumes for the Senior Project Manager, Superintendent, Project Engineer, Site Safety Manager and Quality Control Manager
- For each of the eight key subcontractors named in Factor 2, paragraph d): the company name and three references; subcontractor resumes are not required
- Sign, date and send back an acknowledgement of every amendment with the proposal
After award, you must have
- Performance and payment bonds, a preliminary schedule and certificates of insurance must be approved before the notice to proceed is issued From RFP 33330226RT0010015 Arabian Leopard.pdf:
Submission by the Contractor of its Performance and Payment Bonds, Preliminary Schedule and all…
- Perform on site, with your own organization, work equal to at least 12 percent of the total work; no reduction is granted From 33330226RT0010015 Amendment 0003.pdf:
…with its own organization, work equivalent to at least 12%…
Current contractor
No incumbent is named. Phase 1 (early site work) was awarded earlier to a general contractor the text read does not name; the Phase 2 contractor takes over its site logistics. Three firms were prequalified in Step One; no response counts or Government estimate for Step One are given.
Not in the notice text
- Sections L (instructions) and M (evaluation factors), the Factor 2 text and the page limits are in the RFP's unread middle section, and RFI answers 53 to 224 in Amendment 0003 were only partly read; check the full RFP and Amendment 0003 on SAM.gov
- How proposals are scored (method, factor order and weights) is not shown in the text read
- Whether attending the September 18, 2026 pre-proposal meeting or the October 23, 2026 site visit is required is not stated; the RFP only says offerors must confirm participation in the site tour
- The 100% final drawings, specifications, CAD and Revit model files were not yet posted in the text read; the 65% drawings and specifications were attached but not read
- The second round of pre-bid RFIs was listed as October 12 to October 23, 2026 before the final documents moved to October 19, 2026; whether that window changed is not stated
- Amendment 0003 also attaches a qualification questionnaire for animal containment door and gate manufacturers (market research only); whether bidders must use listed manufacturers is not stated
- The multi-year funding spreadsheet (Sep 8, 2026 PN 2533105 ALF Phase 2 Step 2 Multi-Year Funding FINAL DRAFT.xlsx) is attached but not read
Eligibility and how to respond
- No set-aside, but the notice names requirements you must meet before you can bid:
- The notice mentions an approved or qualified source list. Only listed sources may be eligible, so check that your company or product is on it.
- How to submit, from the AI summary: Upload PDF files to the Dropbox file request link in the RFP (https://www.dropbox.com/request/WjDoOyI1YLjWVLZVx4SD). Check it in the notice before you send anything.
- Construction contracts over $2,000 pay at least the local Davis-Bacon wage rates, from the wage determination in the solicitation. Price your labor from it: How to price a government contract, and how Davis-Bacon differs from the Service Contract Act.
Notice details
- Posted
- Oct 13, 2026
- Notice type
- Solicitation
- Office
- Smithsonian Institution, Arlington, VA
- Product/service code
- Y1JA · Construction of Museums and Exhibition Buildings
- Business type
- Construction & renovation (FedReady's grouping, from NAICS 236220)
- Versions
6 versions have been posted, newest first.
- Oct 20, 2026 · AmendmentDue Nov 20, 2026 (changed)
- Oct 19, 2026 · AmendmentDue Nov 13, 2026
- Oct 13, 2026 · Amendment 0005 (this version)Due Nov 13, 2026
- Sep 30, 2026 · AmendmentDue Nov 13, 2026
- Sep 21, 2026 · AmendmentDue Nov 13, 2026
- Sep 14, 2026 · SolicitationDue Nov 13, 2026
- Attachments
Past awards and competition
Who has won work like this before, the likely incumbent, and what similar contracts paid, from USAspending.gov.
Before you respond
- How to respond to a solicitation (8 steps)
- How to read a government solicitation
- How to price a government contract
Terms on this notice: Solicitation
Full notice text from SAM.gov
Amendment 0005 to the RFP is hereby issued and attached for download. The purpose of the amendment is to make the following changes to the Solicitation: Bid Due Date Extension RFI Due Date CAD & Revit File ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Amendment 0004 to the RFP is hereby issued and attached for download. The purpose of the amendment is to make the following changes to the Solicitation: 100% Bid Documents Responses to RFI’s for Questions 225-226 Revised Bid Schedule ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Amendment 0003 to the RFP is hereby issued and attached for download. The purpose of the amendment is to make the following changes to the Solicitation: Responses to RFI’s for Questions 53-224 Revised Bid Schedule 2nd Site Visit ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Amendment 0002 to the RFP is hereby issued and attached for download. The purpose of the amendment is to make the following changes to the Solicitation: Responses to RFI’s for Questions 1-52 Revised Bid Schedule ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Amendment 0001 to the RFP is hereby issued and attached for download. The purpose of the amendment is to make the following change to the Solicitation: Preproposal Meeting Sign-In sheet ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Smithsonian Institution is seeking offers to construct Phase 2 - Habitats & Animal Care Building for the Arabian Leopard Facility (ALF) at the Smithsonian National Zoological Park, located at 3001 Connecticut Ave NW, Washington, DC 20008, as described herein and the Contract Documents, including, without limitation, in the Specifications and Drawings for SF Project No. 2533105 both dated June 14, 2026. All of the requirements which the successful Offeror must meet concerning this project are set forth in detail in the solicitation Documents included with this Request for Proposal. Upon the receipt of Technical and Cost Proposals and the selection of a successful Offeror, the Smithsonian Institution will execute a Firm Fixed Price construction contract. The Smithsonian currently estimates that the fixed price for the entire project will exceed $10 Million. The Work includes but is not limited to Construction Services for Phase 2 – Habitats and Animal Care Building. This solicitation is for Phase 2 – Habitats and Animal Care Building only. Successful offerors must be capable of performing all work described and contemplated by this solicitation. Critical Elements of the Work: The successful Contractor shall be experienced and fully qualified with critical elements of the project, as listed, but not limited to, the items below: Working within an occupied, historic campus active with public, staff and animals Coordination of specialty trades within a small site footprint Coordination and installation of specialty animal doors, transfer systems and manually operated remote door controls. Coordination and installation of radiant flooring Coordination and installation of animal containment fencing, mesh and transfer chutes Coordination and installation of shotcrete faux rock and faux trees Mitigation of sound and vibration during construction so as not to harm animals in adjacent habitats Coordination of construction activities with Zoo operations to align with feeding schedules, DC zoning community noise regulations, Zoo hours, known and unknown animal welfare issues, veterinary care, and public events Procedures and documentation to ensure compliance with the established LEED building criteria Use of Building Information Modeling (BIM). The following firms were prequalified in solicitation 33330226FT0010005 and are the only firms from which offers will be accepted: Grunley 15020 Shady Grove Road, Suite 500 Rockville, MD 20850 Consigli 1825 K Street, Suite 1000 Washington, DC 20006 The Whiting-Turner Contracting Company 4600 River Road, Suite 200 College Park, MD 20737 PRE-BID TOUR OF THE SITE The Pre-proposal meeting is scheduled for Friday, September 18, 2026, at 9:00 AM Eastern Time. REQUEST FOR CLARIFICATIONS Itis requested that all questions be sent in no later than September 30, 2026. THE PROPOSAL DUE DATE IS FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 2026, AT 3:00 PM EASTERN STANDARD TIME (EST). The subcontracting goals for this project are: 40% with small business concerns. Davis Bacon Building Wage Determination DC20260002 and DC20260001 shall apply. The Period of Performance for the Base Contract is 578 calendar days from the date of Notice to Proceed.
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