New York City has long been known for building big. Now, the Big Apple wants to improve its construction delivery timelines.
New York City’s Department of Design and Construction manages a $34 billion portfolio of construction projects across the five boroughs. Paul Ochoa, who was tapped by Mayor Zohran Mamdani as DDC commissioner earlier this year, aims to deliver those projects in a more streamlined way.
To accomplish the goal, Ochoa plans to expand the use of design-build led projects in addition to other alternative delivery methods. The extension of New York City’s Joint Bidding law, which allows the city to bundle public infrastructure projects into one contract, could assist as well, he told Construction Dive.
Ochoa joined the New York City DOT in 2022 as executive deputy commissioner, according to the mayor’s announcement. He also previously served as chief strategy officer at the Department of Sanitation and as director of city legislative affairs in the mayor’s office.
Here, Ochoa talks with Construction Dive about faster project delivery, design-build and challenges for New York’s public construction projects.
Editor’s note: The following has been edited for brevity and clarity.
CONSTRUCTION DIVE: Now that you’ve been in the role for a few months now, what has been your biggest takeaway so far?
PAUL OCHOA: DDC has dedicated engineering, design and project management teams that do serious work.
When I came in as commissioner, I knew I would have to help with admin matters, including hiring and retaining staff, as well as promoting staff when appropriate and helping to boost morale in general. Over the past months, I have embarked on a listening tour.
I have been meeting with staff and talking to them one by one, and I have also been visiting as many of our construction sites as possible. During these visits, I not only talk to our teams, but also with elected officials and sponsor agencies to learn what works and what we can do better.
I’m also available to industry partners and I’m always ready to partake in any discussions on how we can speed up project timelines. At the end of the day, the goal is to deliver high-quality projects faster to New Yorkers.
There’s a lot of focus on how quickly projects get delivered. Where do you see the biggest opportunity to improve?
We are tasked with delivering projects across the five boroughs for more than 20 city agencies and the three library systems, each with unique challenges. My goal is to help DDC manage some of the external factors that have slowed us down in the past, while empowering our passionate and talented engineers, architects and project managers with the ability to continue their important work.
This includes better collaboration with our sponsors and oversights. We should all be focused on returning that health center, library, recreation center, plaza or street to the communities we collectively serve.
How do you see design-build and other alternative delivery methods changing the way DDC delivers projects?
DDC has demonstrated the success of design-build delivery already on several significant projects.
We have also used construction manager-build under emergency conditions and are excited for our multiple construction manager-build projects that are in active procurement.
Alternative delivery is something private industry embraced long ago, and if we want to talk about focusing on project delivery, it is vital that DDC and other agencies have numerous delivery tools at our disposal.
Not every project fits the mold, but we should be able to pick what we think works best for our city. I look forward to continuing the conversations about alternative delivery at both the city and state levels and with our design and construction industry partners.
What projects or initiatives are you most excited about?
DDC manages a $34 billion portfolio of exciting and vital capital projects that will make the city’s public buildings and streets even better.
This includes renovations for libraries, critical infrastructure like the East Side Coastal Resiliency and Brooklyn Bridge-Montgomery Coastal Resilience projects, and upcoming state-of-the-art recreation centers for our communities in the Bronx and Queens.
I am particularly excited about pedestrian-friendly projects that incorporate street safety features like pedestrian islands for large intersections, sidewalk bump outs and areas where people can sit and relax, as well as infrastructure that will improve travel for cyclists and faster and smoother bus service for New Yorkers.
Any other trends you see that are top of mind?
It is vital that we design and build faster to address heavier rain storms, busier streets and a growing population. We are taking an all-in approach, but need collaboration at all levels of government.
This also includes a long-term extension of the vital Joint Bidding law in Albany, allowing us to more efficiently manage city work and private utility interference under the same contract.
