The City of Seattle, through its Office of Planning and Community Development (OPCD), solicits interest from qualified consulting firms with expertise in community engagement, public communications, storytelling, and forming and facilitating advisory groups. The initial contract will last approximately 1.5 years, with the option to extend if needed. The selected consultant will support the project described below.

Project Description
The selected consultant will support the federally and state-funded Downtown Seattle I-5 Lid Community-Building and Planning Studies project. This project aims to develop community leadership and an urban design vision for lids and other physical connections across Interstate 5 in Seattle’s city center neighborhoods. The planning area spans I-5 from South Main Street to Thomas Street. The selected consultant will focus on forming and facilitating a long-term community advisory group, leading the first phase of a community engagement strategy, supporting relationship building with community-based organizations and impacted residents, framing a project narrative rooted in local history and co-created community vision, and collaborating with future design and technical consultant teams.

The City reserves the right to amend terms of this solicitation, circulate addenda, or withdraw it at any time, regardless of how much time and effort consultants have spent on their responses. This cost plus fixed fee contract is estimated at $250,000.

Estimated Project Schedule
Advertise RFP: September 2 and September 9, 2025.
Optional Pre-Submittal Conference: September 11, 2025.
Deadline for Questions: September 24, 2025.
Proposal Due Date: September 30, 2025 at 4:00 PM.
Review and Rank Proposals: October 1 – October 10, 2025.
Consultant Selection Interviews: October 27 – October 31, 2025.
Consultant Selection and Award: November 7, 2025.
Scoping and Contract: November 7 – December 31, 2025.
Begin Work: January 2026.
Complete Work and End Contract: June 2027.

In addition to the contract described above, OPCD plans to procure up to $1,950,000 in consulting services for other planning-related tasks and reserves the right to retain the services of the successful firm for these activities. This project is anticipated to be federally funded in part through the FHWA. The Budget Period End Date for the FHWA grant is June 30, 2030. This project has a mandatory DBE 16% goal.

Evaluation Criteria
Submittals will be evaluated, scored, and ranked based on the following criteria: project team qualifications including familiarity with WSDOT/FHWA standards (25 points), past project experience (25 points), project understanding and project approach (30 points), project controls including cost and pricing (15 points), and DBE approach including the DBE participation plan (5 points). A total of 100 points is possible. OPCD will interview top ranked firms from the proposal evaluation. Interviews will be worth an additional 100 points.

Submittal Instructions
Consultants must register with a free account at OpenGov, the City’s Procurement Portal (https://procurement.opengov.com/portal/seattle/projects/189019), to access solicitation documents, meeting links, and submit their response (https://procurement.opengov.com/portal/seattle/projects/189019). A virtual pre-submittal meeting is scheduled for September 11 at 4:00 PM. Electronic submittals must be uploaded to OpenGov by September 30 at 4:00 PM. Any questions regarding this Request for Proposals should be directed to Catherine Blair at catherine.blair@seattle.gov.

Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Information
The City of Seattle, in accordance with Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act and the ADA, commits to nondiscrimination on the basis of disability in all of its programs and activities. This material can be made available in an alternate format by emailing Catherine Blair at catherine.blair@seattle.gov or by calling 206-615-1003.

Title VI Statement
The City of Seattle, in accordance with the provisions of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, notifies all bidders that disadvantaged business enterprises will be afforded full and fair opportunity to submit bids in response to this invitation and will not be discriminated against on the grounds of race, color, or national origin in consideration for an award.

All federally funded projects will be held to federal Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) requirements.