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 City 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 Facility. The Scope of Work provided for a multi-phase procurement strategy to evaluate the potential cost implications and project delivery options for a new Public Safety Facility, a parking structure and a re-visioning of Civic Center Park.

Due to the complexity of a P3 structure, the City Council authorized Phase 1 work in July 2022, which focused on an initial project financial and feasibility analysis for the future Public Safety Facility. The consultant team led by Project Finance Advisory, Limited (PFAL) was selected to perform this analysis. Concurrently, Placeworks was retained to facilitate community engagement and outreach. Additional information is available on the City’s website at ggcity.org/civic-center.

As part of Phase 1, the team completed the following tasks:

• Goals, Values, and Criteria. Goals and values identified. Community input received through community engagement and outreach.
• Program Validation. Validated program needs identified in the 2020 Dewberry Report for an 87,000 square foot Public Safety Facility and a 448-space parking structure.
• Site Location. Location (southeast corner of Civic Center Campus) of new Public Safety Facility determined.
• Site Massing. Developed site massing layout for new Public Safety Facility at northeast corner of Euclid Street and Acacia Parkway, with new parking structure and new Civic Center Park.
• Preliminary Costs. The feasibility analysis estimated a preliminary project budget to be approximately $108 million for construction of the new Public Safety Facility, a parking structure, and a new Civic Center Park.
• Delivery Method. Based on the feasibility analysis conducted, it was recommended that the City Council advance the Design-Build-Finance (DBF) option.

In January 2023, the City Council directed Staff to continue advancing the Civic Center Revitalization Project and authorized Phase 2 tasks to:

• Request for Qualifications (RFQ). Develop an RFQ 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.
• Community Engagement and Outreach. Continue community and stakeholder engagement and public outreach.
• CEQA. Initiate work for the environmental analysis of the Civic Center Revitalization Project for the preparation of CEQA (California Environmental Quality Act) compliance documents.

Staff has completed and/or advanced various Phase 2 tasks. The following is a summary of the current status of each task: 

• Initiate CEQA. Project Description finalized. Technical studies commenced. 
• RFI/Market Sounding. Request for Information (RFI) and market sounding completed. Summary of RFI responses and feedback received posted online at project website. 
• Refine Evaluation Criteria. Evaluation criteria under development. Qualifications based selection on prior experience with projects of similar scope and scale. 
• Prepare RFQ. Working group kick-off meetings completed. Document outline completed. Site tours underway. Design/performance specifications ready for City Staff review. 
• Finalize Funding Plan. General fund revenue to pay debt service on new facilities. Obtaining legal input on funding plan. Determining inducement resolution timing. 
• Community Engagement and Outreach. Outreach plan complete. Branding/marketing underway. Facts sheet complete. New project logo. Upcoming City event centered community engagement. 

City Staff, with the PFAL and Placeworks teams, are continuing to work together to advance the Civic Center Revitalization Project.  At upcoming City events (e.g., Concerts in the Park, Movies in the Park, Garden Grove Police Department National Night Out), the City will have informational booths to engage with the community, garner feedback, and create awareness of the project.  The project website (ggcity.org/civic-center) and the City’s various social media platforms will continue to be maintained with regular updates, educational information, flyers, and news on the project to allow the community to stay connected and informed.  In the upcoming months, the City intends to release the RFQ and commence the developer selection process.

This report is for informational purposes and no action is required by the City Council.

By: Chris Chung, Senior Planner