1-27-083 Cedar Lane Regional Park RFI FINAL - POSTED.pdf

REQUEST FOR INFORMATION

REQUEST FOR INFORMATION NUMBER &

TITLE:

27-083

PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP OF CEDAR LANE

REGIONAL PARK

RESPONSE DUE DATE AND TIME: Responses will be accepted on a rolling basis but no later than November 30, 2026, by 5PM EST

PROCUREMENT AGENT: Stephen Keogh 410-638-4756 srkeogh@harfordcountymd.gov

RESPONSE FORMAT: Must be submitted electronically through Euna Procurement

PURPOSE: Market research and planning only; this RFI is not a solicitation for award.

REQUESTS FOR INFORMATION RECEIVED AFTER THE DUE DATE AND TIME

WILL NOT BE CONSIDERED

Minority, Disadvantaged, Women, Small and Veteran Owned Business Enterprises are encouraged to respond to solicitations.

The Maryland Department of Social and Economic Mobility website, https://economicmobility.maryland.gov/Pages/default.aspx ,provides important information, including certification, workshops, and other valuable resources to suppliers.

https://economicmobility.maryland.gov/Pages/default.aspx

Notice to Potential Respondents Harford County has partnered with Euna, which creates a new procurement portal that allows you to receive notifications of business opportunities and to submit bids and proposals to Harford County Government digitally.

Harford County will continue to use the State platform of eMaryland Marketplace Advantage (eMMA) as required by state law. Registration through the Euna portal does not replace the need to be registered through eMMA.

Please visit the link below if you have not already registered through the Euna portal.

Registration is easy and free.

https://www.harfordcountymd.gov/VendorRegistration

Please submit all required documents in Euna.

Please note that your submission has not been completed until you have submitted, finalized and received a confirmation code.

Should you have any questions please contact us at 410-638-3550.

https://www.harfordcountymd.gov/VendorRegistration

HARFORD COUNTY, MARYLAND

REQUEST FOR INFORMATION

RFI NO. 27-083

PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP OF CEDAR LANE REGIONAL PARK

1. PURPOSE OF THIS REQUEST FOR INFORMATION

Harford County, Maryland (the “County”) is issuing this Request for Information (“RFI”) to seek information from firms, organizations, development teams, sports facility operators, investors, and other entities with experience and interest in a potential long-term public-private partnership involving Cedar Lane Regional Park (the “Property”). The County is conducting market research to better understand industry interest, operational capabilities, investment capacity, proposed business models, and potential approaches before determining whether and how to proceed.

The County is exploring opportunities to enhance the Property through improved operations, capital investment, programming, marketing, sports tourism, and economic development. The County is interested in understanding the marketplace and identifying potential models that could support the long-term success of the Property while preserving its role as a public recreational asset.

Through this RFI, the County seeks information regarding:

• Potential public-private partnership models;

• Facility management and operating approaches;

• Capital investment opportunities;

• Sports tourism and tournament recruitment strategies;

• Marketing and sponsorship opportunities;

• Revenue-generation and revenue-sharing structures;

• Community recreation and public access considerations;

• Economic development opportunities;

• Potential roles and responsibilities of the County and a private or nonprofit partner;

• Potential lease, management, concession, development, or other contractual structures;

and

• Industry recommendations regarding the long-term development and operation of the Property.

The County's objectives include enhancing the Property, protecting the County's ownership interest, supporting community recreation, increasing tourism activity, stimulating local economic development, and identifying opportunities to generate an appropriate financial return or other measurable public benefit for the County.

This RFI is intended to assist the County in determining whether and how a future public-private partnership or other operating arrangement may be appropriate for the Property and to inform the development of any future plans for the property.

This RFI is issued for information and planning purposes only. It is not a Request for Proposal (“RFP”), Invitation for Bid (“IFB”), or other competitive procurement. It is not a Request for

Proposals, does not constitute an offer by the County, and will not result directly in the award of a contract, lease, concession, or other agreement. The County is not obligated to issue a future solicitation, select a respondent, reimburse response costs, or enter into negotiations as a result of this RFI.

2. COUNTY OBJECTIVES

The County owns Cedar Lane Regional Park and is seeking information from organizations that have experience developing, operating, managing, maintaining, marketing, or programming sports, recreation, entertainment, tourism, or similar facilities. The County’s objectives include:

• Protecting the County’s ownership interest and preserving the Property as a safe, clean, attractive, and first-class public recreational asset.

• Enhancing the Property through appropriate private capital investment, facility improvements, and lifecycle asset preservation.

• Preserving meaningful community access by supporting community recreation, local youth sports organizations, recreation councils, schools, nonprofit organizations, and County-sponsored programming.

• Increasing regional, statewide, and national tournament activity and positioning the Property as a premier sports tourism destination.

• Generating measurable economic activity for Harford County hotels, restaurants, retailers, tourism destinations, and other local businesses.

• Creating a financially viable operating model and a reasonable financial return or revenue-sharing opportunity for the County through sponsorship, advertising, concession and other revenue opportunities.

• Establishing transparent reporting, accountability, safety, maintenance, and performance standards.

The County is interested in receiving information regarding the advantages, disadvantages, risks, costs, and implementation considerations associated with different potential approaches.

3. BACKGROUND AND PROPERTY OVERVIEW

Cedar Lane Regional Park has historically served as one of Harford County’s primary public location for youth sports, tournaments, recreation council activities, and community athletic programming. The Property has been operated through a combination of County involvement and private/nonprofit management. The County is interested in learning the Property’s potential to enhance sports tourism, economic development, and recreation access in Harford County, and is seeking information from qualified entities with experience.

Cedar Lane Regional Park is a County-owned active recreation property located at 1100 Cedar Lane, Bel Air, Maryland 21015. The Property is less than two miles from Exit 80 off Interstate 95 and is positioned to serve the broader Mid-Atlantic region.

The Property consists of approximately 114 total acres, including approximately 84 usable acres, and currently includes:

• Approximately 850 parking spaces;

• Two full-sized, lighted synthetic turf soccer fields;

• Eleven natural grass fields of varying dimensions;

• One 90-foot baseball diamond;

• Grandstand-style bleachers at Field 12;

• Trails, parking areas, landscaping, and other supporting amenities; and

• Two 20,000-gallon underground irrigation water-storage tanks.

The County has invested significant public resources in the development and maintenance of the Property. The County believes that, with additional capital investment, strategic marketing, modernized management, and professional event recruitment, the Property may have the potential to attract larger tournaments and become a destination facility for youth and amateur sports.

For the purpose of future property improvements, the County recently acquired the 3.31-acre adjacent parcel located at 2024 South Fountain Green Road, Bel Air, Maryland 21015, with the intent of supporting a future ingress/egress connection to Route 543. Future engineering and construction may affect a portion of Field 10. A 40,000-square-foot septic reserve area has also been identified for a potential future restroom building.

Schucks Road Park is a 21.2-acre area, located roughly 7 minutes from Cedar Lane Regional Park, that may be considered for future development use. Access to and use of any field shall remain subject to availability, existing commitments, maintenance requirements, operational considerations, and any necessary approvals.

Attachment A has been provided for information and reference purposes.

The County may consider the potential use of other County-owned active recreation fields for tournaments and events on a case-by-case basis. Any such use would remain subject to availability, existing commitments, maintenance requirements, operational considerations, and required approvals.

4. PRELIMINARY VISION AND PARTNERSHIP CONCEPT

The County invites respondents to share their preliminary vision and insights regarding the long-term operation, enhancement, programming, marketing and utilization of the Property. The County is interested in understanding partnership concepts that may include some or all of the responsibilities described below.

• Day-to-day operations, staffing, scheduling, reservations, programming, customer service, and facility administration;

• Athletic field, synthetic turf, landscaping, infrastructure, parking, trail, restroom, concession, and facility maintenance;

• Tournament recruitment, event operations, sports marketing, sponsorships, branding, and tourism development;

• Capital improvements, facility enhancements, financing, construction phasing, and long-term lifecycle replacement;

• Safety, emergency planning, security, risk management, insurance, reporting, financial controls, and regulatory compliance; and

• Maintaining meaningful and affordable public and community access while balancing tournaments and commercial activity;

• Coordination with recreation councils, youth organizations, schools, County agencies, local businesses, hotels, restaurants, and the tourism office, Hello Harford.

Hello Harford is the County’s national award-winning destination marketing organization (DMO), operating under the Department of Economic Development, and is dedicated to promoting tourism while supporting the County's businesses, attractions, and communities. Proposers are expected to partner with Hello Harford, the Department of Economic Development and Harford County Parks & Recreation to enhance marketing and tourism initiatives.

The County’s goal is to coordinate Property activities with local hotels, restaurants, retailers, tourist destinations, chambers of commerce, and economic development partners. The County is interested in learning about coordination of events and initiatives with local tourism like preferred hotel partnerships, restaurant and retail promotion, local vendor opportunities, and economic impact tracking.

As part of their response, respondents are encouraged to describe innovative ideas such as partnership opportunities, operational approaches, programming concepts, facility improvements, revenue-generating activities, community engagement strategies, or other considerations that could help maximize the value and impact of the Project. Respondents are encouraged to identify alternative allocations of responsibilities, partnership structures, or operating models that they believe would better accomplish the County's objectives.

The County is interested in understanding industry perspectives, emerging trends, and best practices that may inform future planning and procurement efforts. Respondents are encouraged to discuss the anticipated public, recreational, educational, environmental, tourism, economic, or other benefits associated with the concepts presented.

Respondents may include a brief vision statement describing their perspective on the highest and best use of the Property and the key factors necessary for its long-term success and sustainability.

Information provided in response to this section is intended solely to assist the County in evaluating market interest, capabilities, and potential approaches. The County is seeking information and recommendations only and is not requesting formal proposals, pricing commitments, or binding offers at this time.

The final scope, responsibilities, agreement term, investment obligations, financial structure, performance requirements, and County participation, if any, would be established through a future negotiation process and would remain subject to all required County approvals.

5. INFORMATION REQUESTED

Interested parties are invited to submit a response addressing the topics below.

A. Company Profile

• Legal name, address, ownership structure, year established, and primary point of contact

• Organizational structure and identification of proposed affiliates, investors, subcontractors, consultants, or management partners

• Relevant licenses, certifications, and professional qualifications

• Qualifications and experience of key personnel

B. Relevant Experience

• Experience operating, maintaining, developing, financing, marketing, or managing comparable sports, recreation, tournament, entertainment, or public facilities

• Experience managing regional or national tournaments and events

• Experience working with public-sector entities, public recreational assets, lease arrangements, concessions, or public-private partnerships

• Minimum of three representative projects, including location, scope, agreement structure, operating results, investment amount, community use, and client reference information

C. Operational and Management Approach

• Operational philosophy and management structure

• Past experience and/or proposed staffing model, scheduling and reservation systems, customer service approach, quality controls, and performance metrics

• Approach to recreation council coordination, local programming, tournaments, camps, clinics, concessions, sponsorships, and special events

• Safety, security, emergency response, risk management, and continuity-of-operations considerations

D. Maintenance and Asset Preservation

• Approach to natural grass fields, synthetic turf, landscaping, building, parking, trail, utility, and infrastructure maintenance

• Preventive maintenance practices, lifecycle replacement planning, capital reserve strategies, and asset-condition reporting

• Experience maintaining athletic facilities in a safe, attractive, tournament-ready, and first-class condition

E. Capital Improvement and Investment Capacity

• Past experience and/or recommendations for improvements or facility enhancements to enhance operations, tournament competitiveness, visitor experience, community benefit, and long-term sustainability

• Order-of-magnitude investment ranges, anticipated equity contribution, financing sources, loan guarantees or collateral

• Past experience and/or anticipated implementation schedule, capital investment phasing, operational impacts, environmental or sustainability considerations, and relationship between investment level and requested agreement term

• General financial overview and capability required to fund start-up costs, working capital, capital improvements, ongoing maintenance, and debt service

F. Tournament, Marketing, and Tourism Development

• Strategy for attracting regional, statewide, and national tournaments and events.

• Marketing, branding, sponsorship, social media, visitor-experience, and technology concepts

• Past experience and/or approach to partnerships with hotels, restaurants, retailers, tournament directors, recruiters, chambers of commerce and county government departments, like Hello Harford, the Department of Economic Development, and Harford County Parks and Recreation

• Methods for measuring tourism, visitor, operational, and economic impact

G. Public and Economic Benefit

• Past experience and/or approach to preserving meaningful access for local residents, recreation councils, youth sports organizations, schools, nonprofits, County-sponsored programs, and community-based athletic organizations

• Potential scheduling solutions for field availability during non-tournament periods, public access to trails and open areas, and programming for underserved communities

• Expected local economic benefits, local vendor opportunities, employment impacts, and revenue generation

H. Financial and Partnership Structure

• Describe the respondent’s preferred partnership and agreement structure, including anticipated roles and responsibilities of the County and potential contracting partner

• Identify the agreement term, including any renewal options, that the respondent believes would be appropriate and explain how the proposed term relates to anticipated capital investment and financial feasibility

• Describe potential rent, revenue-sharing, profit-sharing, sponsorship, concession, utility, capital investment, or other financial arrangements the County should consider

• Identify any material conditions or County participation that the respondent believes would be necessary to make the proposal partnership operationally and financially viable

6. RESPONSE FORMAT AND SUBMISSION

Responses should be organized in the same order as Section 5 (Information Requested) and should be clear, concise, and directly responsive.

Responses shall be submitted as one PDF document through Euna Procurement https://harfordcountymd.bonfirehub.com/opportunities/253785 by the date and time shown on the cover page.

Respondents should clearly identify trade secrets, confidential commercial information, confidential financial information, proprietary information, or other information that the respondent believes is exempt from disclosure under the Maryland Public Information Act (“MPIA”). To the extent practicable, the respondent should identify the pages, sections, or data for which protection is requested and briefly state the basis for the claimed exemption.

The County may contact respondents for clarification, additional information, interviews, presentations, site discussions, or other market research activities.

All questions and requests for clarification regarding this RFI should be in writing through Euna.

The County will respond to questions of general applicability by written addendum posted through Euna.

7. RFI PROCEDURES AND DISCLAIMERS

The County may use information received through this RFI to refine its objectives, scope, procurement method, business terms, evaluation criteria, and/or future solicitation documents.

Participation in this RFI is voluntary and is not a prerequisite for participation in any future procurement. Responding or declining to respond will not create an advantage or disadvantage should the County choose to conduct a future solicitation.

Questions to the RFI will be accepted on a rolling basis and may be submitted through Euna.

For site visits, the Property is publicly accessible and may be accessed during park hours.

The County will not pay any costs associated with preparing or submitting a response, participating in discussions, attending meetings, or providing supplemental information.

The County reserves the right to cancel, amend, suspend, or reissue this RFI; request additional information; conduct meetings or interviews; and use or not use any information received, subject to applicable law.

The County makes no representation that a future solicitation, award, lease, concession, or public-private partnership will result from this RFI.

Respondents should not submit binding price proposals. Any financial information should be clearly identified as preliminary, conceptual, or provided for market research purposes only.

https://www.harfordcountymd.gov/3749/Bonfire-Vendor-Registration

8. ANTICIPATED NEXT STEPS

Following review of the responses, the County may conduct one-on-one or group industry discussions, request supplemental information, revise the potential partnership concept, obtain additional professional or financial analysis, or develop a future competitive solicitation. Any future solicitation will be issued separately and will contain the controlling scope, instructions, terms, conditions, evaluation criteria, and required forms.

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ATTACHMENT A

RFI NO. 27-083

PUBLIC – PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP OF CEDAR LANE REGIONAL PARK

AERIAL MAP & PHOTO

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PUBLIC – PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP OF CEDAR LANE REGIONAL PARK

HARFORD COUNTY GOVERNMENT PARKS CATALOG

Other fields may be available on a case-by-case basis. Additional ballfields can be located at the Harford County Government Parks catalog.

See links below:

Park Locations https://secure.rec1.com/MD/harford-county-md/catalog https://secure.rec1.com/MD/harford-county-md/catalog