BACKGROUND
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 (Public Private Partnership) 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 to evaluate project delivery options.
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. Concurrently with the project analysis work, Placeworks was retained to facilitate outreach via the Civic Center Community Engagement. 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.
As part of the Phase 1 Scope of Work, the PFAL team completed the following tasks:
- Developed overarching goals and objectives for a new Public Safety Building project
- Validated program needs identified in the 2020 Dewberry Report
- 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
- Performed outreach to stakeholders
- Conducted a preliminary feasibility analysis and identification of potential project delivery options
The purpose of the initial feasibility analysis was 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.
Validation processes of the 2020 Dewberry Report were undertaken to determine an appropriate building size, utilization of space and efficiencies, and optimal location of the new Public Safety Building. 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 further 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 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. Adjustments to program cost estimates are expected and will be further refined through subsequent stages of the P3 process.
Based on the feasibility analysis conducted by PFAL, it was recommended that the City Council advance the Design-Build-Finance (DBF) option for the following reasons:
- A future site location has been identified.
- Preliminary Public Safety Building program has been validated.
- Retain asset operations and maintenance responsibility unless otherwise determined in the next phase of work.
- Streamlined project schedule.
- Ability to optimize risk transfer to Developer.
- Guaranteed price and performance per negotiated contract.
In January 2023, the City Council directed staff to continue advancing the Civic Center Project and authorized:
- An Amendment to the Professional Services Agreement with PFAL 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 a design, build, finance agreement with the selected developer;
- An Amendment to the Professional Services Agreement with Placeworks to expand and and develop a plan for community and stakeholder engagement; and
- Initiate work for an environmental analysis of the Civic Center Project by retaining an environmental consultant to assist the City with preparation of CEQA (California Environmental Quality Act) compliance documents, which will be conducted in parallel with the development of the RFQ/P.