Assemblywoman Kimberly Jean-Pierre (D-Babylon) announced that legislation she sponsored allowing the hamlet of Wyandanch to use design-build contracts to build a health and wellness center has passed the Assembly (A.9756-A).

“As the expansion of Wyandanch Rising continues, Wyandanch has become a locus of economic development,” said Jean-Pierre “With multiple new residential and retail buildings, the revitalization project is now planning to build a 90,000-square-foot health and wellness center.^[1] This bill would allow Babylon to use design-build contacts for the project, which streamlines the construction process and speeds up completion time. Wyandanch is a diverse Long Island community that has historically suffered from a lack of funding, and this investment will help our families for years to come.”

Design-build contract work is a project completion method in which the hirer contracts directly through one entity that designs and constructs the work. The traditional construction approach requires contracts with two separate entities, a designer and a contractor, so design-build contracts considerably streamline the process.

The town of Babylon previously requested to employ design-build contracts to construct large-scale, public-private health and recreational project in the hamlet of Wyandanch – the Wyandanch Health and Wellness Center. Numerous other projects across the state have received design-build authorization, such as transportation projects funded through the New York City Investment Act (Ch. 749 of 2019). Given the project’s complexity and estimated costs, a design-build contract is necessary to complete the project in a timely and cost-efficient manner, noted Jean-Pierre.

[1]newsday.com/classifieds/real-estate/buying-in-wyandanch-t74119