Sole Source Justification Over SAT - Port au Prince Haiti (1.7.25).pdf

JUSTIFICATION FOR OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION

SECTION 1: IDENTIFICATION OF THE AGENCY AND THE CONTRACTING ACTIVITY

Department of State Contracting Activity

☒ Office of Global Acquisitions

Requiring Activity U.S. Embassy Port-au-Prince, Haiti

SECTION 2: NATURE AND/OR DESCRIPTION OF THE ACTION BEING APPROVED

Approval is requested to modify an existing contract on a sole source basis to Cabinet Laurent Attorneys in Port-au-Prince, Haiti for the supplies and/or services described in Section 3 on behalf of the Requiring Activity.

The original purchase order (No. 19GE50-23-P-0170) was awarded on 9/20/2023 and was for a one-year period of performance, ending 9/19/2024. The fixed hourly rate contract included any and all wages, overhead, general and administrative expenses, and profit. For the advisory portion of the contract, 222 hours were awarded at $400/hour (totaling $88,800), however, not all hours were used. The new contract would be a 12-month continuation of the old, assuming 111 hours of advisory services at $400/hour, with the addition of the 5% foreign buyer transaction fee to be paid to the attorney at closing.

SECTION 3: DESCRIPTION OF SUPPLIES/SERVICES REQUIRED TO MEET THE AGENCY’S NEEDS

The requirement is to provide 111 hours of legal advisory services to support closing of a helicopter landing zone (HLZ) property across the street from the U.S. Embassy in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. In addition to legal advisory services, Haitian law requires foreign purchasers to use a local attorney and pay an additional transaction fee in order to close the transaction. OBO negotiated a fee of 5% or approximately $380,000 to be paid at the closing of the transaction.

These supplies/services require that the attorney facilitate the negotiation and transfer of the property to the

United States, as well as participating in calls and meetings, as required. This will allow the OBO and Embassy

Port au Prince to accomplish their mission objective of acquiring the HLZ site.

The estimated value for both the legal advisory services and transaction fees for the entire period of performance is ~$470,000, including options.

SECTION 4: IDENTIFICATION OF THE STATUTORY AUTHORITY PERMITTING OTHER THAN

FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION

This statutory authority permitting other than full and open competition is 41 U.S. Code 1901 as implemented by FAR 13.501(a) and FAR 13.106(b); specifically, this authority permits contracting on a sole-source basis.

SECTION 5: DEMONSTRATION THAT THE PROPOSED CONTRACTOR’S UNIQUE

QUALIFICATIONS OR THE NATURE OF THE ACQUISITION REQUIRES USE OF THE AUTHORITY

CITED

The acquisition of this adjacent parcel is critical for the safety of the Embassy staff in Port au Prince. The site will serve as a helicopter landing zone in the event the Embassy needs to be evacuated (post is currently on ordered departure for 60 days) and the security situation is only deteriorating in the region. Onboarding a local attorney is imperative in order to complete this acquisition swiftly and soliciting bids from multiple attorneys would waste valuable time.

Cabinet Laurent is uniquely qualified to provide these services as they have assisted other USG agencies

(including USAID) with the purchase or lease of real estate and are one of the only attorneys in Port au Prince that understands the unique requirements of the USG. Embassy Port au Prince and OBO interviewed the lead attorneys at Cabinet Laurent and confirmed they are qualified, credentialed and technically acceptable to assist with this urgent matter. OBO/Site Acquisitions, with L/BA concurrence, therefore, believes that it is imperative to retain this Port au Prince-based legal counsel who also has extensive experience with real estate acquisitions in this region. Critical time and expense would be lost should in any attempt to bring a new attorney on, in place of Cabinet Laurent.

The original purchase order (No. 19GE50-23-P-0170) was awarded on 9/20/2023 and was for a one year period of performance, ending 9/19/2024. The fixed hourly rate contract included any and all wages, overhead, general and administrative expenses, and profit. For the advisory portion of the contract, 222 hours were awarded at $400/hour (totaling $88,800), however, not all hours were used. The new contract would be a 12 month continuation of the old, assuming 111 hours of advisory services at $400/hour, with the addition of the 5% foreign buyer transaction fee to be paid to the attorney at closing.

SECTION 6. DESCRIPTION OF EFFORTS TO ENSURE THAT OFFERS WERE SOLICITED FROM AS

MANY POTENTIAL SOURCES AS IS PRACTICABLE, INCLUDING WHETHER A NOTICE WAS OR

WILL BE PUBLICIZED AS REQUIRED BY FAR SUBPART 5.2 AND, IF NOT, WHICH EXCEPTION

UNDER FAR 5.202 APPLIES

A SAM notice was publicized for this requirement on Dec 18, 2024. To date, no other sources have expressed interest in this assignment and no additional market research was conducted because it is not practicable for any company other than Cabinet Laurent to provide the services.

SECTION 7. DETERMINATION BY THE CONTRACTING OFFICER THAT THE ANTICIPATED COST

TO THE GOVERNMENT IS FAIR AND REASONABLE

The Contracting Office has determined that the anticipated price(s) will be fair and reasonable based on comparison to substantially legal contracts in other real estate markets around the world. By signing the justification, the Contracting Officer makes a determination that the $470,000 cost (~$88,800 advisory fee and a ~$380,000 statutory, foreign transaction fee) to the Government is expected to be fair and reasonable.

SECTION 8. DESCRIPTION OF THE MARKET RESEARCH CONDUCTED (SEE PART 10) AND THE

RESULTS OR A STATEMENT OF THE REASON A MARKET RESEARCH WAS NOT CONDUCTED

OBO compared the hourly rate specified in the Cabinet Laurent proposal to other similar legal contracts in other markets around the world where a similar scope of work was undertaken. Aside from the high-level comparison, detailed market research was not conducted due to the extreme urgency of onboarding local counsel in Haiti. The urgency was driven largely by the rapidly deteriorating security situation and the immediate need to contract for and utilize the subject site as a helicopter landing zone to evacuate Embassy staff by air, and therefore the need to complete the transactions expeditiously.

SECTION 9. ANY OTHER FACTS SUPPORTING THE USE OF OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN

COMPETITION

None.

SECTION 10. LISTING OF SOURCES, IF ANY, THAT EXPRESSED A WRITTEN INTEREST IN THE

ACQUISITION

To date, no other sources have written to express an interest.

SECTION 11. STATEMENT OF THE ACTIONS, IF ANY, THE AGENCY MAY TAKE TO REMOVE OR

OVERCOME ANY BARRIERS TO COMPETITION BEFORE ANY SUBSEQUENT ACQUISITION FOR

THE SUPPLIES OR SERVICES REQUIRED

For the reasons set forth in Paragraph 5, the Office of Procurement has no plans at this time to compete future contacts for the types of supplies/services covered by this document in Haiti. If another potential source emerges, the Office of Procurement will assess whether competition for future requirements is feasible.

SECTION 12. CERTIFICATIONS

TECHNICAL AND REQUIREMENTS CERTIFICATION (FAR 6.303-2(b))

I certify that the facts and representations under my cognizance which are included in this Justification and its supporting acquisition planning documents, except as noted herein, are complete and accurate to the best of my knowledge and belief.

Requirements Cognizance:

SIGNATURE:

Russell Ottalini Date Contracting Officer Representative

CONTRACTING OFFICER CERTIFICATION (FAR 6.303-2(a)(12)) I certify that this submission is accurate to the best of my knowledge, and that it contains complete information necessary to enable other officials to make an informed recommendation for approval or disapproval.

SIGNATURE:

Nicolas Wilhelm Date Contracting Officer and RPSO Director (acting)

1/7/2025