Assistant Commissioner Yvi McEvilly. Image Credit: DDC.
On December 7, 2023, the Department of Design and Construction announced the appointment of Yvi McEvilly as the new Assistant Commissioner for the agency’s Design-Build Unit. Her role will help expand the design-build program, which allows for a single entity to be responsible for both the design and construction of projects, avoiding the additional procurement process of approving separate vendors. With designers and builders on the same team from a project’s start, there is more collaboration and coordination which creates a more concise construction plan and timeline.
Assistant Commissioner McEvilly is a licensed landscape architect with prior experience in New York City capital projects. Most recently, she served as Vice President in the Capital Program at the New York City Economic Development Corporation, where she supervised an over $500 million portfolio of waterfront, open space, infrastructure and public buildings projects. Prior to her role at NYCEDC, she was the Director of Design in the Capital Department of the New York Restoration Project. In 2023 she completed the Coro Leadership New York program, and holds a B.S. in Architecture and a M.Arch from the University of Virginia.
Assistant Commissioner McEvilly will help expand the agency’s design-build program, which has grown since design-build was finally permitted by the New York City Public Works Investment Act in late 2019. Prior to the act, the City was restricted to using the lowest-bidder approach for selecting contractors. Since the act’s passage, the agency has developed a pilot program including multiple infrastructure and public building projects. Two of these projects, the Shirley Chisholm Recreation Center in Brooklyn and the Mary Cali Dalton Recreation Center, will both be completed at least two years faster through the design-build process than if the City had been restricted to lowest bidder contracting. Design-build will also be used in the borough-based jails project, starting with a flexible community space and parking garage at the Queens location.
DDC Commissioner Thomas Foley stated, “The faster we can move away from the lowest bidder system the better it will be for New York City residents and the taxpayers who fund our capital projects. Our design-build pilot program is already showing great results and Assistant Commissioner McEvilly will lead the program’s expansion as well as, we hope, other methods of alternate delivery. We continue to work with Mayor Adams’s Capital Process Reform Task Force and we continue to advocate for change in Albany so that we can work faster and smarter.”
Assistant Commissioner McEvilly stated, “I am looking forward to transforming how the city delivers projects and am honored to join DDC to grow the design-build program and help pioneer this important project delivery tool for the city. We look forward to also using progressive design-build in the future as Mayor Adams called for last year, which will be particularly useful for infrastructure projects.”
Carlo A. Scissura, Esq. and New York Building Congress President and CEO stated, “Yvi McEvilly’s appointment marks a pivotal moment for the city’s construction industry in New York City. Her leadership in advancing the expansion of DDC’s design-build program aligns seamlessly with our vision for a more agile, flexible, and innovative approach to capital project delivery. McEvilly’s role in exploring progressive design-build, pending state legislature authorization, reflects the bold leadership needed for transformative change. The Building Congress applauds McEvilly’s appointment, and we look forward to working with her to continue the progress made by the DDC, building on their successes and aiming to be even more robust, efficient, and responsive to our industry’s needs.”
By: Veronica Rose (Veronica is the Editor of CityLand and a New York Law School graduate, Class of 2018.)