Clemson requires additional off-campus housing facilities to enable and support our plan for social distancing on student in on campus housing required by response to COVID-19.  As we have been making plans to return students to campus for the Fall, the specific requirements have been a continual moving target based on both requirements from CDC and DHEC as well as actual demand based on models specific to Clemson.  For the past 1-2 months we have been in communication with nearly every apartment complex and hotel within a reasonable distance from Clemson to understand availability, pricing and willingness to work with the University on this matter.  It became clear that only a handful of options would meet the needs of Clemson in terms of qty of beds, availability for the semester at minimum and with facilities equivalent to on campus housing.  Conducting a formal solicitation in SCBO at this point in the process would be counterproductive and could result in not meeting the timeline to have plans finalized for the start of the semester and no other process allowed for in the Procurement Code would be appropriate in this situation.  Therefore Clemson intends to enter a lease with the Best Western of Clemson (MDR Clemson TRS, LLC) in the amount of $829,450 for 148 rooms for remainder of the Fall semester as an emergency procurement.  This is in addition to three previous contracts with housing complexes and another hotel contract.

Bidder’s right to protest as listed in Section 11-35-4210 in the South Carolina Consolidated Procurement Code applies to this announcement of an emergency procurement.

PROTESTS (MAY 2019). If you are aggrieved in connection with the solicitation or award of the contract, you may be entitled to protest, but only as provided in Section 11-35-4210. To protest a solicitation, you must submit a protest within fifteen days of the date the applicable solicitation document is issued. To protest an award, you must (i) submit notice of your intent to protest within seven business days of the date the award notice is posted, and (ii) submit your actual protest within fifteen days of the date the award notice is posted. Days are calculated as provided in Section 11-35-310(13). Both protests and notices of intent to protest must be in writing and must be received by the appropriate Chief Procurement Officer within the time provided. See clause entitled “Protest-CPO”. The grounds of the protest and the relief requested must be set forth with enough particularity to give notice of the issues to be decided. PROTEST - CPO - MMO ADDRESS (JUN 2006): Any protest must be addressed to the Chief Procurement Officer, Materials Management Office, and submitted in writing (a) by email to: protest-mmo@mmo.state.sc.us or (b) by post or delivery to 1201 Main Street, Suite 600, Columbia, SC 29201.