In July 2019, the City Council authorized a comprehensive space and needs assessment of the police facilities by Dewberry to address current and future needs of the Garden Grove Police Department (GGPD). Findings of the report identified deficiencies in the existing GGPD facilities and insufficient spacing available for building, parking, and site needs to accommodate current and future demands of the public safety operations. It further concluded the current Police Facilities campus are all undersized and poorly configured. The final Dewberry Report was presented to the Council at the January 28, 2020 meeting.

In February 2022, an extensive Request for Proposal process was undertaken to assemble a P3 Financial Advisory team to analyze a P3 structure for a new Public Safety Building. The Scope of Work provided for a multi-phase procurement strategy to evaluate the potential cost implications of a new Public Safety Building based on a range of site and program alternatives that incorporated affordable housing and a revisioning of Civic Center Park; and evaluate project delivery options. Details of the RFP process are available on the City’s website at https://ch.ci.garden-grove.ca.us/internal/p3/.

Due to the complexity of a P3 structure, the City Council authorized Phase 1 work only in July 2022 which focused on an initial project financial and feasibility analysis associated with development of a conceptual site massing layout for the future public safety building. The consultant team led by Project Finance Advisory, Limited (PFAL) was selected to perform this analysis at a cost of approximately $200,000. Concurrently with the project analysis work, Placeworks was retained to facilitate outreach via the Civic Center Community Engagement at a cost of $50,000. Specifically these tasks focused on assessment and utilization of the Civic Center area amenities. Additional information is available on the City’s website at https://ggcity.org/civic-center.

The PFAL team has concluded the Phase 1 Scope of Work. These tasks included: 

1. Developed overarching goals and objectives for a new Public Safety Building project
2. Validated program needs identified in the 2020 Dewberry Report
3. Developed site objectives and evaluation criteria including designation of a site to be considered for the new Public Safety Building and conceptual site massing alternatives
4. Performed outreach to stakeholders
5. Conducted a preliminary feasibility analysis and identification of potential project delivery options

The purpose of the initial feasibility analysis is to develop a preliminary cost estimate for the future Public Safety Building and determine optional delivery methods for the project. Throughout the process, PFAL completed a review of previously completed studies and plans, conducted meetings with staff and stakeholders to assess and validate goals and objectives for the public safety facilities, Civic Center Park and affordable housing options. There has been continued input from project stakeholders from the City Manager's Office, Finance, Community Services, Police, Community Development and Public Works Departments. 

Work focused on the assessment of site considerations for the new Public Safety Building in which two site alternative locations were evaluated: (1) a 2-acre property located at 11277 Garden Grove Blvd; and (2) the Civic Center Park and the adjacent City employee parking lot properties.

Concurrently, two validation processes of the 2020 Dewberry Report were undertaken to determine an appropriate building size, utilization of space and efficiencies. Through this process, it was determined that the new Public Safety Building would likely be a multi-story building totaling approximately 87,000 square feet, achieve sustainability goals, and meet GGPD infrastructure needs and potential growth to 2039.

With the combined analysis of validation and site considerations, the team concluded that the existing Civic Center Park area combined with the adjacent parking lot would be sufficient to accommodate a new Public Safety Building totaling 87,000 square feet, along with a multi-level parking structure to contain approximately 448 spaces which will accommodate secured police fleet vehicle parking, staff personal vehicles, and some public parking.

The feasibility analysis prepared by the PFAL team has estimated a preliminary project budget to be approximately $108 million for construction of the new building, revisioning of Civic Center Park, and a multi-level-floor parking structure. This estimate is intended to provide the City with an opinion of likely cost at a feasibility level, reflective of local market rates and conditions in Orange County.  Given the limited scope of design in this Phase 1, adjustments to program cost estimates are expected and will be further refined through next stage of the P3 process.

PFAL explored a series of project delivery funding options to advance a new Public Safety Building. The project delivery funding considered: risk assessment, project lifecycle, traditional delivery, alternative delivery, and project timing. In summary, the project delivery funding options are described as: 1) Design Bid Build (DBB) would take approximately 24 months to award construction; 2) Design Build Finance Operation and Maintenance (DBFOM) would take approximately 18 months to award construction; and, Design Build Finance (DBF) would be in the range of 12-15 months to award construction.

Based on the feasibility analysis conducted by PFAL, it is recommended that the Council advance the Design-Build-Finance (DBF) option for the following reasons:

1. A future site location has been identified.
2. Preliminary Public Safety Building program has been validated.
3. Retain asset operations and maintenance responsibility unless otherwise determined in the next phase of work.
4. Streamlined project schedule.
5. Ability to optimize risk transfer to Developer.
6. Guaranteed price and performance per negotiated contract.

Following Council concurrence of a DBF delivery option, staff also recommends approval of an Amendment to the PFAL agreement to proceed with Phase 2 and Phase 3 to develop a Request for Qualifications/Proposals (RFQ/P) to determine selection of a Preferred Developer and support the City through a progressive process to finalize and design, build, finance agreement with the selected developer (Attachment No. 2 – Phase 2 and 3 Detailed Scope of Work Summary).

With the Council's approval, Staff will proceed with the following actions:

1. Further expand and develop a plan for community and stakeholder engagement through an Amendment to the Professional Services Agreement with Placeworks. (Attachment No. 3)
2.  Initiate work for an environmental analysis in the form of an Initial Study in accordance with CEQA that will be conducted in parallel with development of the RFQ/P.

Funds have been budgeted in the Biennial Budget for FY 2021-2022 and FY 2022-2023 for the Civic Center/Public Safety Facilities Project.

It is recommended that the City Council:

• Direct staff to continue advancing the Civic Center Project/Public Safety Building and identify opportunities to accelerate project delivery including retention of a CEQA consultant for project entitlements;

• Approve an Amendment to the Professional Services Agreement with PFAL to increase the contract to the amount not to exceed $1,300,000;

• Approve an Amendment to Professional Services Agreement with Placeworks to increase the contract to the amount not to exceed $150,000; and,

• Authorize the City Manager to execute the Agreements on behalf of the City, and make minor modifications thereto as needed.