Staff Writer
After years of planning and debate, the Long Beach City Council earlier this month made a momentous decision to move forward with a public-private partnership to rebuild the downtown civic center— a massive undertaking that will include a new City Hall, a new main library, a new Lincoln Park, a new Port headquarters and private development.
The Council, at its Dec. 9 meeting, voted unanimously (8-0) to select Plenary Edgemoor Civic Partners (PECP) as the project team for the endeavor. City staff recommended the team over Long Beach CiviCore Alliance (LBCCA) after evaluating both design-build proposals through a months-long selection process.
The decision to proceed with rebuilding the Civic Center and incorporating a new Port headquarters comes more than seven years after reports declared that City Hall and the main library, which were both built in the late 1970s, are “significantly seismically deficient” and would be public-safety risks in an earthquake.
City staff has also stated that City Hall is insufficient in size for its employees and is “functionally obsolete and energy inefficient.”
On Oct. 8, the day before the Council made its decision, the Long Beach Board of Harbor Commissioners agreed to participate in the project, supporting city staff’s recommendation to select PECP as the project team.
Earlier this year, the Port, which had its plans to build a new headquarters in the Port complex nixed by former Mayor Bob Foster and once considered permanently moving its offices to an existing building downtown, relocated its staff to an interim headquarters near the Long Beach Airport since its original headquarters at 925 Harbor Plaza has been deemed seismically outdated as well.
Within the past few years, however, some residents and former councilmembers have criticized city staff for moving too swiftly on the project and not taking enough time to consider the option of retrofitting the buildings.
The issue of whether to retrofit or rebuild the civic center became a topic of discussion leading up to the election that voted in seven new councilmembers.
Former 5th District Councilmember Gerrie Schipske, who lost in a bid for mayor this year, was the sole detractor of the project, casting a lone dissenting vote against moving forward with a request for the proposals (RFP) while she was still in office.
City staff, on the other hand, has stated that retrofitting the City Hall building and main library would potentially force the City to propose a bond measure and tap into its General Fund resources.
According to a city staff report, retrofitting City Hall would cost an estimated $170 million in 2013 dollars when including design and engineering costs and moving and lease expenses for temporary facilities during construction. In addition, city staff deemed outside studies of the cost to retrofit the Civic Center as inaccurate.
According to city staff, rebuilding the Civic Center through a public-private partnership, however, would cost no more than the City’s current maintenance costs of $12.6 million annually, plus inflation, while the majority of the project is being paid for through private loans with interest as part of the financing model. The developer would also be given a portion of City-owned property, estimated to be worth about $30 million, as an incentive for private development.
All the council members lauded proposals from both teams. Seventh District Councilmember Roberto Uranga called the decision to select a project team a “defining moment” while Vice Mayor Suja Lowenthal, who represents the 2nd District, compared the project to building the Hoover Dam, which was constructed in the middle of the Great Depression.
Councilmembers also expressed satisfaction in the fact that the project is expected to create more than 3,000 direct and indirect jobs in the community. As part of the Council’s decision to select PECP as the project team, staff notes that the project also requires other approvals that will come back to the Council.
Additionally, the Council agreed to incorporate a local-hiring provision with the contract and have the city auditor oversee the financial aspects of the public-private partnership throughout construction.
While some councilmembers expressed concerns over issues brought forward by LBCCA, including that PECP’s proposal will cost more than $47 million more than CivicCore’s, city staff noted that a majority of the added costs are created from the Port’s new facility.
Mayor Robert Garcia called the Civic Center rebuild a “transformative project” for the City and downtown. He said his favorite aspect is rebuilding the main library, which Garcia said would become the “centerpiece” to the project and “one of the best libraries in the country.”
In addition, he said the project brings the Port staff to the downtown core for the first time in modern history and will create an “iconic” park for the community.
“I believe that we’re a city that can do big things, and, at some point, as a city, we’ve got to step up and do big things,” Garcia said. “This is a big deal. This is the largest public construction and development project on our City side that we have probably done in decades. Sure, the Port’s had some large projects, but the City has not invested itself in this type of endeavor in decades and decades.”
Conway, who noted that occupancy of the new civic center is expected in 2019, confirmed in an email to the Signal Tribune that, under PECP’s design proposal, the civic center component will be built before the private development component, except, perhaps, the 3rd Street and Cedar Avenue site.
He stated that since City Hall will be built on the City’s old courthouse site, City Hall and main library employees will continue to occupy the existing buildings until the new structures are available for occupancy.
“No interim space will be needed,” Conway said. “After occupancy of the new City Hall and main library, demolition can begin on the existing City Hall and main library.”
While PECP has provided a preliminary design of the project that includes a more than 30-story hotel tower and other residential units and development, Conway noted that the City will be conducting community outreach for the next six to nine months to develop the official design of the civic center, City Hall and main library.
