At last night’s meeting, the Greensboro City Council hired the construction manager-at-risk for the $22 million parking deck at the corner of Eugene and Bellmeade streets—one of two downtown parking decks the city is funding:

The council voted 9-0 to appoint a construction-management company to work out a plan and build the deck.

The council named the Samet Corp./SRS Inc. joint venture as the “construction manager at risk,” which means the contractors have agreed to build the deck for no more than $22 million in this case.

Such a guarantee at the start of a project means the general contractor must carefully monitor every cost of a project because any cost increases are its responsibility.

The city will be required to stay in touch through detailed and ongoing communication with Samet/SRS as the project progresses so that decisions can be made quickly and efficiently.

The other parking deck is the $30 million project in the heart of downtown that will serve a Westin Hotel. That project was brought up in the recent 13th District Congressional race between victorious incumbent Ted Budd and Democratic challenger Kathy Manning—one of the investors in the hotel is Manning’s husband.