(April 26, 2013, updated 5:00 p.m.) -- Long Beach city management today (April 26) released a Request for Qualifications (RFQ) inviting interested parties to submit their qualifications to develop, construct and operate a new Civic Center.
Text of the RFQ, visible at this link is similar in a number of respects to the "public-private partnership" ("P3") type arrangement in which state judicial authorities agreed to have private firms construct and operate a new Long Beach courthouse. The process as applied to the courthouse, initially touted as creative and efficiently, has since drawn criticism as costlier than necessary and created budget issues that resulted in canceling or jeopardizing other planned judicial projects. In a release, the City doesn't mention the courthouse project but says the "goal" of any partnership with a developer "would be to limit the City's annual costs to its current expenditures for City Hall and provide enough space to accommodate employees who are currently working in leased facilities." The release says that the City "currently pays $12.57 million in annual costs for the Civic Center, including $7.84 million for operating costs; $2.6 million for debt service, and $2.13 million for off-site leases throughout the city to locate employees, who could be relocated back to the Civic Center if additional space were provided." On a webpage devoted to the RFQ, the City of Long Beach states: The City of Long Beach invites interested parties to tender a Submission and substantiate their qualifications through a Request for Qualifications (RFQ) to work with the City of Long Beach, California (City) in connection with a performance-based infrastructure transaction for the development, construction and operation of a new Civic Center for the City (Project). A media release accompanying today's RFQ release states: [Release text] The City is soliciting qualifications from project teams capable of delivering a high-quality project in where the project team will design, build, finance, operate, and maintain a Civic Center throughout a minimum 30-year lifecycle. If approved, the project would comprise a new City Hall and Main Library, the revitalization of Lincoln Park into a destination park, and may further include a permanent headquarters building for the Port of Long Beach. The media release quotes Mayor Bob Foster as stating, "This project represents an opportunity to replace aging infrastructure through creative public/private financing mechanisms at little to no additional cost." The release quotes In the release, Second district Councilwoman Suja Lowenthal as saying, "Quite frankly, our Civic Center design lacks human scale, is difficult to access and does little to assert the importance and value of the public realm. This project is worth considering because a new Civic Center would emphasize a mixed-use, walkable environment that is more compatible with the existing urban fabric and small block development of the Downtown core." UPDATE: In a mass emailing, Vice Mayor Robert Garcia wrote: The goal of this partnership [with developers interested in the RFQ] is to re-imagine the civic center space through creative public/private financing at little to no additional cost to the city. In response to LBREPORT.com's invitation for comment, Councilwoman Gerrie Schipske -- who in February made a substitute motion, blocked by Lowenthal and Garcia, to first seek a second opinion on City Hall's seismic issues) told LBREPORT.com: [Councilwoman Schipske emailed comment] I am puzzled why the City is sending this RFQ out before it has verified with another seismic expert the one report we have that indicates there is $170,000,000 in repairs needed for City Hall. The Council was told there would be a peer review to verify the repairs are required and at the amounts stated. Doing it after the fact seems not logical and appears that this train is already out of the station on moving to get rid of the current city hall. The City Council authorized issuing the RFQ in a Feb. 12, 2013 Council vote (7-2, Johnson and Austin dissenting). The vote came after Councilwoman Schipske, joined by Councilman Austin, offered a substitute motion to table the proposal until a second opinion and/or study is done on both the City Hall and Library concerning the seismic evaluation of these buildings. In response, Councilwoman Lowenthal (seconded by Vice Mayor Garcia) made a substitute-substitute motion (carried 7-2, Austin and Neal dissenting) to issue an RFQ while directing staff to conduct a "peer review" to determine if a 2007 seismic study of City Hall is still valid (and only conduct a new seismic study if the "peer review" proves the initial study is no longer valid). LB's Civic Center was built in the 1970s. In 2007, City Hall-commissioned engineering studies indicated the building had seismic deficiencies. City management has since contended that retrofitting City Hall with building code upgrades would cost roughly $170 million in current dollars...and has called the building "functionally obsolete" and warranting a new Civic Center complex. City Hall's closing date for its RFQ is July 26, 2013 at 4:00 p.m. Pacific Time.
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