Staff Writer
The future Long Beach Courthouse celebrated another milestone with the addition of the first steel beam on Friday, Dec. 12. During the ceremony, former Governor George Deukmejian, who was on hand to autograph the steel that will become a part of the building soon to bear his name, commended the collaborative efforts of the government and businesses who made the project possible. The courthouse is currently on track to finish by the fall of 2013.
“You must know that I’m not getting any younger, and I want to be here for the opening and the dedication of the building when it’s completed. So let’s keep it on schedule and ahead of schedule,” said 83-year-old Deukmejian during the ceremony, right before he and others signed the steel beam. Deukmejian served as the governor of California from 1983 until 1991.
The boundary lines on the six-acre site follow Maine Avenue, Third Street, Magnolia Avenue and Broadway, and plans indicate that the courthouse building will take up 531,000 square feet. The ceremony highlighted what may prove to be a landmark partnership between government and businesses.Â
According to a statement released by the Judicial Council of California, the Long Beach Courthouse is the first in the state to use a delivery method called the Performance-Based Infrastructure (PBI). The Judicial Council collaborated with a private team that will “finance, design, build, operate and maintain the building.” This team is comprised of a consortium of several companies, including Long Beach Judicial Partners LLC, Clark Design/Build of California, AECOM and Johnson Controls. According to Stephen Reinstein, CEO of Long Beach Judicial Partners, Meridiam Infrastructure organized the consortium. Meridiam Infrastructure owns Long Beach Judicial Partners, the company that leads the consortium.
Reinstein described the unusual partnership between the public and private sectors at Friday’s ceremony.
“First of all, the state does not have to pay one dollar towards this project until its expected completion date in fall of 2013,” said Reinstein, who went on to explain that the state will be making service fee payments for 35 years. “And if at any time, an element of the courthouse doesn’t function the way it’s supposed to, or any area of the building is unavailable to the courts [due to] an operational problem, then the state can reduce its payment to us reflecting the lack of availability. That’s only fair, right? You don’t really usually pay for something that doesn’t work. The end result is that we hand the courthouse back to the state, 35 years after initial occupancy. The building should be in as good a shape as when it was completed in 2013.”
Government officials like Ronald Overholt, who serves as the administrative director for the Administrative Office of the Courts, praised the project. Overholt called it “something very different for state government.”
“What an enormous difference this project is going to make! not only to our court, but to the people of this community,” said presiding judge of the Los Angeles County Superior Court, Hon. Lee Smalley Edmon.
The current courthouse was built in 1959. In an interview after the ceremony, Reinstein said that the existing building is overcrowded and dangerous.
The cost of construction is not cheap though. According to Overholt and Reinstein, the development cost of the project is expected to total about $490 million, with a design-build cost estimated at $343 million. No details were available on how much the state will be paying in service fees over 35 years.
Reinstein touted the advantage of using companies that are capable of completing construction work quickly, adding that the private sector is now taking on the risk of a costly construction project.
“We can move a lot faster than the state government can,” said Reinstein.
He explained that a government building project is a good investment for the financial backers.
“The advantage was a good economic return over 35 years from an excellent occupant,” Reinstein said. He explained that the service fee payments create the return on the investment, and “so the investors are guaranteed” since the state must have a court system.
“So that’s a pretty safe bet for these investors that they’re going to get their money returned because the courts have to operate,” Reinstein added.
