[Protest of PADC Contract Award for Landscape Maintenance]

A firm protested a Pennsylvania Avenue Development Corporation (PADC) solicitation for landscape maintenance services, contending that: (1) PADC should have issued the solicitation as a small business set-aside; and (2) the solicitation's bond requirements were unduly restrictive. GAO held that: (1) PADC reasonably decided not to issue the requirement as a small business set-aside, since it did not expect to receive bids from at least two small business at fair-market prices; (2) PADC performed an extensive survey of potential small business bidders and determined that most of the bidders did not have the staff, equipment, or experience to perform the requirements satisfactorily; (3) none of the small businesses that requested a copy of the solicitation submitted a bid; (4) PADC used traditional criteria in determining the potential bidders' responsibility; and (5) PADC reasonably required performance and payment bonds based on its need for uninterrupted services. Accordingly, the protest was denied.