NEWS RELEASE
Date: December 6, 2007
Contact: Derek Danziger
(619) 533-7103 or
www.ccdc.com
SEMI-FINALIST DEVELOPMENT TEAMS IDENTIFIED FOR
CIVIC CENTER COMPLEX REDEVELOPMENT
SAN DIEGO, CA — A selection committee has reviewed proposals from eight prospective development teams and narrowed the list of competitors to four, for the possible redevelopment of San Diego’s Civic Center Complex. The semi-finalist firms invited for presentations to the selection committee include:
· Gerding Edlen (Portland, OR)
· Hines (San Diego, CA)
· Lankford & Associates (San Diego, CA)
· Thomas Properties Group (Los Angeles, CA)
The development teams were evaluated based on numerous criteria including relevant experience of the firms and staff, financial capability, commitment to equal opportunity and accomplishments in sustainable design and development.
Following the semi-finalists presentations, the selection committee will choose up to three finalist teams to advance to the next round of competition.
The finalists will then participate in a series of public meetings to be held throughout the city to share their prior development experiences and listen to public feedback, questions and ideas. Final proposals from all firms are currently scheduled to be due in mid-2008. Each finalist will be expected to incorporate ideas and suggestions gained from these public meetings into their submitted proposals. Finalists will also be expected to submit conceptual plans and financial projections in their final proposals.
Selection Committee Members, comprised of professionals from diverse disciplines, are as follows:
Fred Maas, Chair CCDC Board of Directors
Barbara Warden, The Downtown San Diego Partnership
Kent Trimble, Delegate, San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce
William Sauls, esq., Centre City Advisory Committee Member
Tom Sudberry, Sudberry Properties
David Malmuth, Robert Charles Lesser & Company
Kevin Tilden, San Diego Convention Center Board
Larry Hoeksema, AIA, Moser Drew Watson & Ferguson
Currently, San Diego’s City Administration Building accommodates only 600 employees, and the City has had to lease privately owned space for more than 15 years. City offices are now located within eight downtown buildings (four leased), representing more than one half million square feet of leased space.
Collectively, more than 3,000 employees work in these properties, which comprise annual leasing costs of $13.5 million. Deferred maintenance on the City Administration Building alone is estimated to exceed well above $10 million. Because most of the leases will come due in 2013 and 2014 and rates are projected to increase significantly, this process is seen as a proactive approach to evaluate possible costs savings through redeveloping the site.
The committee is expected to announce the names of up to three finalist teams before the end of the year.
The final determination process will include a thorough financial evaluation to ensure that a project would move forward only if it could clearly demonstrate a significant reduction in operational and capital costs to the City. Similar public/private partnership projects include the new city hall in Austin, Texas, and state-of-the-art courthouse facilities in New York City.
Goals of the redevelopment of the Civic Center Complex include:
• Revitalizing the city’s civic core
• Catalyzing private sector development in the Civic Center
area
• Providing more accessible public spaces
• Providing smart growth transit-oriented development
• Opening B Street, closed to pedestrian and vehicular traffic
for 40 years
• Replacing aging infrastructure
• Constructing a more publicly accessible City Hall
• Increasing tax increment revenues generated to the City
• Utilizing sustainable development techniques.
For questions of further information please contact Jeff Graham at 619-533-7181 or jgraham@ccdc.com.
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CCDC is a public, nonprofit corporation created by the City of San Diego in 1975 to facilitate the redevelopment of downtown’s 1,500 acres.
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