That’s how I would interpret it too. However, diesn’t $2.5M seem high for designing a relatively minor renovation. Furthermore, if they need that much of a contingency in the design phase, God help us when they get to actual construction.
I’m probably reading too much into it as take away the massive contingency and $1.8M starts to sound more reasonable. Presumably, the contingency would cover engineering work, if necessary, related to the roof replacement FDNY cited, but after nearly $.5 M in preliminary design work you’d think they’d at least have a handle on the scope of the final design required and the costs to complete it. I would certainly be asking a lot of questions if I was on the board.