Empire AI – Construction Manager at Risk Services

EMPIRE AI CONSORTIUM Inc. (EAI), is seeking proposals from firms to provide CONSTRUCTION MANAGER AT RISK (CMAR) services for Project 2025-081 which is associated with a proposed Data Center. Empire AI Consortium, Inc. is a first-of-its-kind consortium, established to secure New York’s place at the forefront of artificial intelligence (“AI”) research. The Consortium will create and launch a state-of-the-art AI research computing center located at the University at Buffalo’s North Campus. The facility will be used by leading New York institutions as a shared, academic research computing resource to promote responsible research and development, create jobs, and advance AI for the public good. The envisioned facility housing the Empire AI research computing infrastructure is a freestanding building to be constructed on a 1.83-acre parcel at the University at Buffalo, North Campus. The proposed site is located at the southwestern most lot along Service Center Road immediately adjacent to the existing electrical substation. Facility efficiency will be achieved through the strategic placement of power and cooling services. The Data Center is expected to have a capacity of up to 15MW of computing power in its fully populated and expanded future state and a minimum of 5MW available on day one of the operation. The Data Center will be a multi-story structure with tenant and operations spaces. The design for the facility is currently in the schematic design phase. The facility concept includes the following: A two-story facility with a data center, offices area, staging areas, electrical rooms, and mechanical equipment rooms. The facility will feature a closed loop water system, which, when at full capacity, can leverage the facility’s hot water output to provide campus-wide heating demand. It is the intent of the project to capture significant clean-energy opportunities consistent with New York State and University campus priorities. Bid documents will be released on Thursday, April 23, 2026, Please bookmark this page to receive updates. Proposed Bid timeline: Pre-Bid Conference – University at Buffalo May 12, 2026 9AM EST Questions Due by May 15, 2026 1PM EST Answers to Question May 22, 2026 Bid Proposal Due Date and Time May 29, 2026 1PM EST Projected Presentation by Suppliers – In NYC Est. Week of June 15th. Anticipated award Week of June 22nd. Projected Contract Start Date July 2026 A Pre-bid conference is scheduled for Tuesday, May 12, 2026 at 9:00AM followed by a walk-thru at the project site. Attendance at the Pre-bid conference is mandatory to bid on the project. Questions associated with the attached bid will be addressed during the Pre-Bid Conference. Interested parties are required to e-mail Tricia Kandler at [email protected] no later than May 8, 2026 2PM of your intent to attend. Interested firms may bring up to four represeatives. Questions associated with the attached RFP document are to submitted in wiriting no later than May 15, 2026 1 PM to Tricia Kandler [email protected]. Bid Proposal Due Date and Time: Friday, June 5, 2026 at 1 PM. EST and submitted to [email protected]. Business enterprises awarded an identical or substantially similar procurement contract within the past five years: NONE Minority / Women Business Enterprise contracting goals (MWBE) Total MWBE Goals: 30.00%