I. Introduction

The City of Watsonville invites submittals of Statements of Qualifications from interested and qualified Architectural Historians to provide comprehensive third-party technical reviews of historic structures for which the City has received planning and/or building permit applications. It is intended to ensure that proposed projects do not cause significant impacts to historic resources, which are protected under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and reviewed under the Secretary of the Interior's Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties (Standards).

The current request for qualifications is to fill the city-contracted design professional role of architectural historian for the permit review process.

II. Role of Architectural Historian

The City of Watsonville invites submittals of Statements of Qualifications from interested and qualified Architectural Historians to provide analysis of historic structures, potentially historic structures, and comprehensive design review of permit applicationsfor projects involving historic or potentially historic structures to ensure their compliance with the California Environmental Quality Act and the Secretary of the Interior's Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties.

Anticipated services are for general consulting, historic analysis, and design review. This RFQ seeks to pre-qualify one or more consultants that demonstrate the highest level of experience and capability to provide peer review of development applications for compliance with the CEQA and consistency with the Secretary of the Interior's Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties.

The selected consultant shall review planning and building permit applications for the City of Watsonville. Types of services to be provided include:

1. For historic sites and potentially historic sites, determination of historic significance and peer review of proposed modification to historic structures for consistency with the Secretary of the Interior's Standards.
2. Provision of a written summary of recommendations on the design of the project based on the Secretary of the Interior's Standards. In some instances, simple sketches to illustrate recommended changes is also an appropriate form of communication in addition to the written summary.

III. Requirements

The architectural historian must be willing to work collaboratively with the City's project planner. The successful candidate must already be listed in the California Historical Resources Information System (CHRIS) and have experience:

1. Making determinations of historic significance utilizing state DPR forms;
2. Conducting design review to determine consistency with the Secretary of Interior's Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties; and
3. Communicating design recommendations to project architects.

IV. Terms of Contract and Selection.

Selection will be based on review of qualifications presented in the submittal, matching skills with the needed expertise, and an interview process. Given the uncertain and potentially variable scope of the work, the City seeks a consultant who will enter a blanket contract with an established hourly billing rate. The selected consultant(s), in partnership with the City, would then develop a specific scope of work and budget for individual contracts as determined necessary by the City over the next 1-5 years.

Selected consultant(s) must be willing to be flexible in terms of effort and scope needed for successful completion of the project.

Selected consultant(s) must be willing to accept the terms included in the City's standard professional services contract.

The City will make selection decisions on the basis of relevant experience, past performance, presentation skills, availability, billing rate, and the best alignment of specific skills and experience with specific project needs.

Pursuant to the City's Purchasing Policy for Professional Consultants, price alone will not dictate selection.

V. Response Requirements

Please submit the following (max length 10 pages)

1. Cover letter describing specific qualifications related to above services.
2. Brief consultant biography.
3. Qualifications and examples of relevant historic projects or writing sample of design review.
4. Hourly billing rate with rates for any supporting staff if needed.
5. Three references (preferably from both public and private sector)

Please submit either one electronic submittal or three copies of Proposal, clearly marked on the outside "Architectural Historian Services".

Proposals will be accepted electronically, in person, or by mail. Proposals will be accepted until June 20, 2025, at 5:00 p.m.

No proposal will be accepted by oral communication, telephone, or facsimile transmission. Proposals may be withdrawn prior to the time set for closing. Any proposals received after the time set for closing will be rejected.

In order to ensure that all interested firms have access to the same information, all questions must be submitted by email prior to Friday, June 13, 2025, to Assistant Community Development Director Matt Orbach, at matt.orbach@watsonville.gov. Responses to questions will be posted on the City website.

Please submit your Qualifications to:

City of Watsonville, CDD
Attn: Matt Orbach
250 Main Street
Watsonville, CA 95076
(831) 768-3075
matt.orbach@watsonville.gov