United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Forage Animal Production Research Unit (FAPRU) - Lexington, KY

DESCRIPTION: The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Louisville District intends to issue a Request for Proposal (RFP) to construct a two-story, 39,000 SF facility with a mechanical penthouse constructed of Kentucky regional materials inspired by agricultural influences such as rustic limestone, limestone gladding, high performance structural silicone glazing and oxidized metal panels located in Lexington, Kentucky on the University of Kentucky (UKY) campus. The facility interior will consist of laboratory, office space as well as informal/shared meeting area and personal/flexible spaces.

The new research facility for the United States Department of Agriculture – Agricultural Research Service (USDA-ARS) has the “mission to provide improved sustainability and profitability of forage-based livestock enterprises” in the local region. The project will be in on the University of Kentucky’s College of Agriculture, Food and the Environment (UK-CAFÉ) campus and consists of Research Laboratories, Support Laboratories, Offices for principal investigators and their teams, collaboration space, along with Greenhouse and Headhouse facilities. Laboratory requirements/features include: daylighting, open and closed labs, chemical fume hoods, biosafety cabinets, lab air, lab vacuum, dedicated ventilation system and primary/secondary protection devices. Other requirements include compliance with ANSI Z-3581 Emergency Eye Wash & Shower Equipment standard and the installation of modern utilities such as deionized water, natural gas and custom gases. Specialized equipment installation will be required for items such as: walk-in cold room, walk-in freezer room, chemical fume hood, autoclave, glassware washer, liquid nitrogen freezer and storage tanks, etc.

The project will contain the following options: 1) Green House 1-4 Bay; 2) Green House 5-8 Bay

The Contract Duration is estimated at eight hundred (800) calendar days from Contract Notice to Proceed. The actual Period of Performance will be identified in the solicitation.

TYPE OF CONTRACT AND NAICS: This RFP will be for one (1) Firm-Fixed-Price (FFP) contract. The North American Industrial Classification System Code (NAICS) for this effort is 236220 - Commercial and Institutional Building Construction.

PROJECT LABOR AGREEMENT: This acquisition will not require a project labor agreement.

TYPE OF SET-ASIDE: This acquisition will be a Full & Open competitive procurement.

SELECTION PROCESS: This is a single-phase procurement. The proposals will be evaluated using a Best Value Trade Off source selection process.

DISCUSSIONS: The Government intends to award without discussions but reserves the right to conduct discussion should it be deemed in the Government's best interest.

CONSTRUCTION MAGNITUDE: The magnitude of this construction project is anticipated to be between $25,000,000 and $100,000,000 in accordance with DFARS 236.204.

ANTICIPATED SOLICITATION RELEASE DATE: The Government anticipates releasing the solicitation on or about 09 January 2026 and approximate closing date on or about 24 February 2026. Actual dates and times will be identified in the solicitation. Responses to this synopsis are not required. Additional details can be found in the solicitation when it is posted.

PRE-PROPOSAL CONFERENCE: A pre-proposal conference will be held following the issuance of the solicitation. The exact location and time will be included in the solicitation.

SOLICITATION WEBSITE: The official solicitation, when posted, will be available free of charge by electronic posting only and may be found at System for Award Management (SAM): Offerors shall have and shall maintain an active registration in the SAM database at http://www.sam.gov to be eligible for a Government contract award. If the Offeror is a Joint Venture (JV), the JV entity shall have valid SAM registration in the SAM database representing the JV as one business/firm/entity. If at the time of award an Offeror is not actively and successfully registered in the SAM database, the Government reserves the right to award to the next prospective Offeror.

POINT-OF-CONTACT: The point-of-contact for this procurement is Contract Specialist, Jacob Pridemore, at Jacob.S.Pridemore@usace.army.mil.

This announcement serves as the Advance Notice for this project. Responses to this synopsis are not required.