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New York City has long been known for building big. Now, the Big Apple wants to improve its construction delivery times.
The New York City Department of Design and Construction manages a $34 billion portfolio of construction projects across the five boroughs. Paul Ochoa, whom he touched Mayor Zohran Mamdani as DDC Commissioner early this year, it aims to deliver these projects in a more streamlined manner.
To achieve 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 a single contract, could also help, 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 director of strategy at the Department of Sanitation and as the city’s director of 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.
Immersion in CONSTRUCTION: Now that you’ve been in the role for a few months now, what has been your main performance 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 administration matters such as recruiting and retaining staff, as well as promoting staff when needed and helping to boost morale in general. For the past few months, I have embarked on a listening tour.
Paul Ochoa
Courtesy of the New York Department of Design and Construction
I’ve been meeting the staff and talking to them one by one, and I’ve also been visiting as many of our works as possible. During these visits, I not only talk with our teams, but also with elected officials and sponsoring agencies to learn what is working and what we can do better.
I am also available to industry partners and am always willing to engage in any discussion on how we can accelerate project timelines. Ultimately, the goal is to deliver high-quality projects faster to New Yorkers.
There is a lot of focus on how quickly projects are delivered. Where do you see the greatest opportunity for improvement?
We are tasked with delivering projects across the five boroughs for over 20 city agencies and all three library systems, each with unique challenges. My goal is to help DDC manage some of the external factors that have held us back in the past, while empowering our passionate and talented engineers, architects and project managers to continue their important work.
This includes better collaboration with our sponsors and supervisors. We should all focus on giving back 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 already demonstrated successful design-build delivery on several major projects.
We have also used construction manager construction under emergency conditions and are excited about our multiple construction manager construction projects that are in active procurement.
Alternative delivery is something that private industry embraced a long time ago, and if we’re going to talk about focusing on project delivery, it’s vital that DDC and other agencies have numerous delivery tools at our disposal.
Not all projects fit the mold, but we should be able to choose what we think works best for our city. I look forward to continuing conversations about alternative delivery at both the city and state levels and with our partners in the design and construction industry.
What projects or initiatives are you most excited about?
DDC manages a $34 billion portfolio of exciting and vital capital projects that will further improve the city’s public buildings and streets.
This includes renovations for libraries, critical infrastructure like the East Side Coastal Resilience 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 especially excited about pedestrian-friendly projects that incorporate street safety features such as pedestrian blocks for major intersections, curb pulls and areas where people can sit and relax, as well as infrastructure that will improve commutes for cyclists and faster and smoother bus service for New Yorkers.
Any other trends you see that you like?
It is vital that we design and build faster to cope with heavier rainstorms, busier streets and a growing population. We are taking a global approach, but we need collaboration at all levels of government.
This also includes a long-term extension of the vital joint bidding law in Albany, which allows us to more efficiently manage the work of the city and the interference of private services under the same contract.
