Downtown Tulsa Partnership seeks a qualified interdisciplinary consultant team to prepare a Downtown-wide Landscape, Urban Forestry and Streetscape Implementation Plan. The Plan will translate the public-realm priorities established in Downtown Tulsa Forward into a coordinated, resource-conscious program that DTP and its partners can implement, maintain and measure.

This is not solely a landscape-design exercise. The assignment must connect physical standards with the staffing, vendor capacity, maintenance practices, costs, ownership responsibilities and funding required to sustainably improve Downtown Tulsa over time.

A central outcome of the assignment is an actionable strategy to increase Downtown’s urban canopy and landscaped area. The consultant must identify feasible expansion locations and provide recommendations, typologies and concept-level specifications for enhanced streetscape planting that can be incorporated into future corridor, gateway, and public-space projects.

PROJECT BACKGROUND AND NEED

Downtown Tulsa encompasses approximately 1.5 square miles and functions as a regional employment, residential, entertainment and cultural center. DTP provides enhanced maintenance, beautification, livability, mobility and place-enhancement services within the Tulsa Stadium Improvement District (TSID) in coordination with the City of Tulsa, property owners, developers, utilities, contractors and other public and private partners.

Current conditions are fragmented. Issues include:

• Inconsistent tree-well dimensions, materials, ground cover and treatments across blocks and projects;
• Variable planting palettes, irrigation conditions, establishment practices and maintenance quality;
• Unclear or overlapping responsibilities among DTP, the City, property owners, utilities, developers and contractors;
• Uneven tree health, canopy, pruning, replacement and succession-planning practices; and
• Limited information about whether current contracts, vendors, staffing and equipment can efficiently support expansion.

The resulting Plan should reduce lifecycle costs and recurring maintenance demands, improve plant and tree survival, establish a more cohesive Downtown identity, and create repeatable standards that can be incorporated into near-term projects and future capital improvements.

PROJECT OBJECTIVES

• Create one coordinated, Downtown-wide framework for landscaping, street trees and related streetscape elements.
• Identify and prioritize feasible opportunities to expand Downtown’s urban tree canopy, landscaped area and pedestrian shade, including locations where existing paved or underused space could be converted to planting.
• Standardize a limited palette of native, climate-adapted, hardy and commercially available plant materials appropriate to Tulsa’s urban conditions.
• Establish safe, accessible and maintainable tree-well and planting-area typologies that accommodate healthy growth and avoid foreseeable conflicts with sidewalks and utilities.
• Clarify ownership, decision-making, maintenance and replacement responsibilities.
• Evaluate the effectiveness, cost and capacity of existing contractors and vendors and recommend a practical future service-delivery model.
• Prioritize investments based on need, equity, visibility, constructability, lifecycle cost and alignment with planned public-realm projects.
• Provide implementation tools that DTP can use for budgeting, procurement, capital coordination and performance management.

SCOPE OF SERVICES

Respondents may refine the work sequence, but proposals must address each task below. 

1. Project Initiation and Source Review

• Conduct a kickoff meeting and confirm goals, decision points, data needs, roles, schedule and communication protocols.
• Review Downtown Tulsa Forward, the Downtown Tulsa Streetscape Master Plan, applicable City standards and ordinances, active capital projects, available inventories, maps, contracts and maintenance records.
• Prepare a concise data-gap memorandum identifying information that must be field-verified or developed during the study.

2. Existing Conditions, Asset Baseline and Responsibility Map

• Review DTP’s existing GIS-based inventory of planters and other mapped streetscape assets and use available data to support an existing-conditions assessment. bit.ly/DTDASH
• Recommend additional asset categories that should be incorporated into DTP’s inventory - such as tree wells, street trees or planting areas - and identify the priority attributes, condition fields and maintenance information DTP should track.
• Document existing tree wells, street trees, planting beds, planters, turf, irrigation, edging, mulch, pavers and related streetscape conditions at a level sufficient to identify recurring typologies and deficiencies.
• Evaluate condition, accessibility, safety, maintainability, irrigation availability, utility conflicts and evidence of material failure or tree-growth conflicts.
• Identify gaps in canopy, shade and landscaping.
• Identify candidate locations for new street trees, expanded tree wells, continuous planting areas, curb extensions, medians, planters and other enhanced streetscape planting, noting major physical or operational constraints.

3. Urban Forestry and Tree-Care Assessment

 The consultant is not expected to complete a comprehensive tree-by-tree inventory or individual tree-risk assessment. 

• Assess species diversity, age and size distribution, general condition, canopy gaps, establishment success and priority maintenance or replacement needs.
• Review existing tree selection, planting, staking, watering, pruning, pest/disease response, soil management, protection during construction, removal and replacement practices.
• Recommend a climate-adapted tree palette organized by site condition, available soil volume, overhead clearance, utility conflicts, street exposure and maintenance demand.
• Prepare a practical inspection, pruning, watering, establishment, risk-response and succession/replacement cycle, including when certified arborist services are required.
• Identify opportunities to increase canopy and shade without creating conflicts with accessible pedestrian routes, utilities, sight lines or building operations.
• Prepare an urban canopy expansion strategy that establishes a defensible baseline, recommends achievable near- and long-term canopy/tree-planting targets, and identifies priority corridors and sites for new trees.

4. Landscape and Streetscape Standards

• Develop a concise plant palette emphasizing native and climate-adapted species that are hardy, low-water, available from regional suppliers and manageable with realistic staffing.
• Develop standard tree-well and planting-area typologies for common Downtown conditions. Address soil volume, root accommodation, drainage, irrigation, surface treatment, edge treatment, accessibility, litter removal, replacement and long-term tree growth.
• Recommend alternatives to loose or outdated mulch, buckling pavers, undersized metal rings and other treatments that create maintenance, accessibility or tree-health problems.
• Establish guidance for planters, ornamental beds, turf, gateway landscaping, seasonal color, pollinator habitat and areas where landscaping should be reduced, consolidated or eliminated.
• Develop enhanced streetscape planting typologies for priority corridors and common Downtown conditions, including street-tree-and-understory combinations, linear planting beds, curb extensions, medians, gateways and high-visibility pedestrian areas.
• Provide concept-level specifications and details sufficient for DTP and partner design teams to carry the recommendations into future project design. At minimum, address species and plant sizes, spacing, soil composition and minimum soil volume, drainage, irrigation approach, root management, surface and edge materials, establishment period, maintenance requirements and replacement expectations.
• Coordinate landscaping standards with pedestrian clear zones, ADA accessibility, lighting, furnishings, signage, snow/ice response, loading, waste service and utilities.
• Provide concept-level plans or illustrations for at least three representative priority conditions selected with DTP. These are intended to demonstrate application of the standards, not to serve as construction documents.

5. Operations, Contracts and Market Capacity

• Review the scope, cost structure, service levels, geographic coverage, schedules, performance expectations and results of current landscaping, irrigation and tree-care contracts and vendors.
• Interview relevant DTP staff, City staff, property representatives and current service providers. Current vendor participation should inform the assessment but shall not limit independent recommendations.
• Assess the local and regional vendor market, including availability of qualified landscape maintenance firms, certified arborists, nurseries, irrigation providers, specialty contractors, labor, equipment and materials.
• Compare viable service-delivery models, including bundled versus specialized contracts, geographic zones, on-call services, in-house capacity, cooperative purchasing and owner/developer responsibilities.
• Recommend scopes of work, service frequencies, response standards, quality-control methods, reporting requirements, performance measures and procurement strategies that DTP can incorporate into future solicitations and contracts.
• Identify staffing, equipment, technology, training and annual operating resources required for the recommended program.

6. Stakeholder Engagement and Coordination

Use focused engagement to clarify responsibilities, test proposed standards, and build support for implementation. Engagement should be limited to key stakeholders - such as existing landscaping contractors and property owners - and supplemented by a digital public survey to gather broader input on Downtown landscaping preferences, priorities, and desired improvements. DTP staff will lead stakeholder engagement and administer the public survey, with consultant support in developing survey questions, structure, and content.

7. Prioritization, Costs and Implementation Program

• Develop objective prioritization criteria and identify near-term demonstration projects, recurring annual programs and longer-term capital needs.
• Identify a prioritized pipeline of canopy-expansion and enhanced-streetscape planting projects, including estimated trees, planting area or other measurable improvement where feasible.
• Prepare planning-level capital and annual operating cost estimates, including installation, establishment, irrigation, routine care, arborist services, replacement and lifecycle costs.
• Provide a phased five-year implementation roadmap with responsible parties, dependencies, funding strategy and measurable outcomes.
• Identify opportunities to incorporate recommendations into existing underway public-space projects.
• Identify potential public, private, philanthropic, sponsorship, assessment-district and grant funding sources, distinguishing one-time capital funding from sustainable operating revenue.
• Recommend a small set of performance measures, such as tree survival, canopy added, assets brought to standard, maintenance response, annual cost per asset or block, water use and stakeholder satisfaction.

REQUIRED DELIVERABLES

NO.

DELIVERABLE

1

Project work plan and data-gap memorandum

2

Existing-conditions and responsibility assessment, including GIS-compatible inventory/condition data and priority maps

3

Urban forestry, canopy-expansion and tree-care program, including baseline conditions, achievable expansion targets, priority planting locations, tree palette, care cycles and replacement/succession guidance

4

Landscape and streetscape standards manual, including plant palette, enhanced streetscape planting typologies, tree-well and planting details, concept-level specifications, maintenance implications and at least three representative concepts

5

Operations and vendor-capacity assessment, including recommended service-delivery model, procurement/contract standards, staffing and equipment needs, service levels and performance measures

6

Stakeholder engagement summary and responsibility/coordination matrix

7

Cost model and one-, three- and five-year implementation roadmap

8

Draft and final integrated Plan, Executive Summary and presentation to DTP Board of Directors (can be virtual)

Final materials must be provided in accessible PDF and editable source formats. Maps and spatial data must be provided in mutually agreed GIS-compatible formats; cost models and inventories must be provided in editable spreadsheet format; and graphics must be provided at publication quality. The consultant will provide concise progress updates and working files at agreed milestones.

SCOPE PARAMETERS

• The Plan is Downtown-wide and implementation-oriented; it should not become a parcel-by-parcel landscape architecture plan.
• The base scope includes concept-level applications of standards, but not sealed construction documents, bidding documents, detailed irrigation design, subsurface utility investigation or permitting for every location.
• Any recommended optional services must be separately scoped and priced and may not reduce completion of the required base deliverables.
• Recommendations must identify lifecycle and operating implications; strategies that cannot be maintained within a credible resource model should not be advanced without a clearly identified funding and operating pathway.

DESIRED CONSULTANT TEAM

DTP anticipates an interdisciplinary team with demonstrated expertise in:

• Urban landscape architecture and streetscape planning;
• Urban forestry and arboriculture;
• Native and climate-adapted planting design for hot, drought-prone urban environments;
• Landscape operations, maintenance contracting, procurement and lifecycle costing;
• GIS-based asset inventory;
• ADA-accessible public-realm design and coordination with utilities and municipal standards; and
• Implementation planning.

A single firm need not provide every discipline. Respondents may assemble subconsultants, but must identify one project manager responsible for coordination, quality and schedule.

PROPOSAL REQUIREMENTS

1. Cover letter and project understanding: Maximum three pages; identify the prime consultant, project manager, authorized representative and commitment to the proposed schedule.
2. Team and qualifications: Describe each firm and key person, their role, availability and relevant licenses/certifications. Identify subconsultants and the percentage of work anticipated for each.
3. Relevant experience: Provide up to four comparable projects demonstrating downtown/public-realm planning, urban forestry, operational analysis and implementation. Include two client references.
4. Technical approach and work plan: Describe methods for inventory, field verification, standards development, tree assessment, vendor/contract analysis, engagement, costing and prioritization. Identify DTP/partner inputs and decision points.
5. Schedule: Provide task durations, milestones, meetings, draft/final review periods and staff availability. Identify any assumptions affecting schedule.
6. Fee proposal: Provide a fixed, not-to-exceed fee by task, firm and key staff member, with hourly rates and reimbursable expenses. Separately identify optional services. Travel, printing and other reimbursables should be minimized.

SUBMISSION AND COMMUNICATIONS

Submit one PDF proposal by email to Emily Scott at emily@downtowntulsa.com no later than 11:59 PM Central Time on September 9, 2026. The email subject line should read: “Proposal - Downtown Landscape Plan.”

All questions, clarification requests, proposal submissions and status inquiries must be directed in writing to Emily Scott at the email above.

SELECTION PROCESS AND CRITERIA

DTP may request clarifications, conduct interviews, negotiate scope and fee with the highest-ranked respondent, or request a best-and-final offer. Final selection and contract authorization will follow DTP’s applicable approval process.

CRITERION

WEIGHT

Understanding of the assignment and implementation focus

20%

Relevant team experience and qualifications

25%

Technical approach, methods and quality of work plan

25%

Operations, maintenance, vendor-capacity and lifecycle-cost expertise

15%

Schedule, availability and project management

5%

Fee, value and allocation of resources

10%

ANTICIPATED PROCUREMENT SCHEDULE

MILESTONE

ANTICIPATED DATE

RFP issued

August 5, 2026

Proposals due

11:59 PM CT September 9, 2026

Interviews, if conducted

September 14 – 25, 2026

Notice of intended selection

No later than October 2, 2026

Anticipated contract/start date

October 19 -23, 2026

Target final completion

May 2027

GENERAL CONDITIONS

• DTP reserves the right to amend or cancel this RFP, reject any or all proposals, waive informalities, request additional information and select the proposal deemed most advantageous to DTP. Lowest cost will not necessarily determine selection.
• All costs of preparing a proposal, participating in interviews and negotiating an agreement are the respondent’s responsibility.
• The selected consultant must execute an agreement acceptable to DTP and provide a completed Form W-9 before beginning work.