Spotlight: Housing rehab in West Palm Beach, FL

The City of West Palm Beach, Florida, includes Home Rehabilitation and Emergency Repairs in their housing programs. City staff uses Housing Developer Pro to create an in-house cost estimate and specifications for bidding.

The Housing Construction Specialist for the City’s Housing & Community Development department, Waldemar Orellana, also implemented the Spec Cost Update add-on for Housing Developer Pro. Speaking highly of the add-on, he says, “The new feature that allows you to update your database of items cost, directly from the bid results, is very helpful and convenient.”

Mr. Orellana also uses HDP to track bid results, change orders, and draw payments to contractors.

When asked if he had any advice for agencies considering HDP, Mr. Orellana said, “The HDP team has developed new versions of the program which tells me that they are constantly working to add new features to this program, and technical assistance has always taken care of our questions promptly and professionally.”

For more details on the City’s housing rehabilitation projects, please visit the City of West Palm Beach.

Spotlight: A variety of rehab in Brevard County

Brevard County’s Housing & Human Services Department manages a wide range of housing programs, from weatherization, to rehab and repair, to completely demoing a house and building a new one.

Pam Davis, the Housing Project Specialist, uses Housing Developer Pro to create all of the County’s work write-ups. HDP is such a useful tool for her because it “helps maintain the consistency of our specs which makes a project easier to write-up and for the contractors, easier to bid.”

When asked what advice Ms. Davis could offer for agencies considering HDP, she suggested, “First, make sure the Library of Specs has the wording accurate for your type of projects, codes, requirements, etc. Second, set up your Locations [in your Checklist] to include most used specs; this makes completing a write-up a gazillion times faster!”

Ms. Davis appreciates that “when you’re done with your several hour long inspection, you come in (or you can complete on-site), input name and address, add a location, then enter quantity of items you want, print, and you’re done!”

For more information, please visit Brevard County Housing & Human Services.

Spotlight: NSP rehab in Pinellas County, Florida

The third round of Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP) funding brought in over $4 million for Pinellas County, Florida. The County is currently utilizing the funds to stabilize neighborhoods that have been economically impacted by foreclosures and abandoned properties.

Ed Courtemanche, Housing Specialist for Pinellas County, uses Housing Developer Pro software to manage the rehabilitation of homes under the NSP program. Mr. Courtemanche highlighted that, “with a few keystrokes I can produce a full set of Bid Documents which may include a bid worksheet, instructions to bidder, bid form, and requirements and office estimates.” He then puts the job out to bid and, “after the bids are accepted HDP gives me an easy way to compare the bids and award the project.”

Pinellas County also utilizes the new Spec Cost Update add-on for Housing Developer Pro to update its specification costs, which Mr. Courtemanche says allows him “to produce accurate construction budgets for future projects.”

With the deadline for Neighborhood Stabilization Program funds drawing nearer, Mr. Courtemanche believes that “HDP is an inexpensive solution to help you do more work with less staff.”

The photos below are one of Pinellas County’s NSP rehabilitation projects.

Learn more about the Community Development Department’s housing rehabilitation projects at Pinellas County.