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As city officials read aloud the four bids it received for construction of the Downtown Transportation Center on Tuesday at City Hall, the handful of contractors and subcontractors there chattered with surprise about how close the bids were, though they were expecting tough competition.

"There's less work than previous years, materials are down off their highs last year. ... There's less supply and greater demand (for work), so things will get tighter in the bidding," said Brad Waldron, contracts administrator for Harri Plumbing & Heating.

The low bid came in at $11,386,000 from McGraw's Custom Construction based in Sitka. The figure includes an optional $1.1 million hilltop "pocket park" next to the upper floors of the garage with a pedestrian connection to ground level. City engineers had estimated the project cost at $11.8 million.

Three of the contractors had $10 million-plus base construction bids falling within $32,000 of each other - that's a spread of about three-tenths of a percent of the engineer's estimate - a "very tight" field, said Jennifer Mannix, contract administrator for the city's engineering department.

The numbers unveiled Tuesday are still subject to vetting and verification by city staff. The contract award is expected to go before the Juneau Assembly for approval Monday.

The project includes a four-story parking garage, improved outdoor parking and a bus staging area and a small transit center building that will house public restrooms, lockers and waiting room for transit employees, a police substation, space for vendors and an enclosed waiting area, plus the optional pocket park.

The garage will be paid for with a combination of federal stimulus money, local sales taxes collected, which voters' approved in a 2005 ballot question, and marine passenger fees collected from the cruise industry.

Assembly member Merrill Sanford attended the bid opening and said he was pleased with the low bids.

"We need all that we can get," he said.

The low and competitive field of bidders is consistent with a trend in construction this year.

• Contact reporter Jeremy Hsieh at 523-2258 or e-mail jeremy.hsieh@juneauempire.com.