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BY JEN NOWELL
Daily Post Correspondent
The city of Mountain View is weighing the option of building a new police station down the road from its existing location as the police department continues to outgrow its current setup.
The current 42,500-square-foot building at 1000 Villa St. opened in 1980 and houses police, emergency dispatch, the fire chief, the deputy fire chief and the emergency operations center.
For many years, the building has been undersized for the growing police department, according to a city report from Senior Project Manager David Printy.
“Although the building’s durable concrete block walls have served the city well, they have made interior layout adjustments challenging and costly whenever the police department changes its operations and staffing arrangements,” Printy said.
City Council meets tonight (Dec. 3) to vote on whether to approve an $800,000 agreement with SVA Architects Inc. of Oakland to provide architectural and engineering design services for a new police and fire administration building.
This item will appear on the council’s consent calendar, which is where multiple items are typically lumped together and voted on in one fell swoop without discussion.
On Dec. 11, 2018, council authorized city officials to put out a request for proposals to find an architect for the project, whether it is a remodel and expansion of the current site or building a new facility on another site.
On June 27, the city issued a request for proposals and received five in return.
Four of the firms were selected for in-person interviews, which were held Sept. 3 and 9. SVA, who has worked on other similar public safety buildings, was found by city officials to be the most qualified for the project, Printy said.
SVA’s work will include architectural, structural, mechanical, plumbing, electrical and landscape design, as well as estimating construction costs.
Three alternatives
The architectural firm will evaluate three alternatives for the city’s project, including:
• Retrofitting and expansion of the existing building to meet current needs,
• Construction of a new building on the existing site, or
• Construction of a new building on a nearby city-owned parking lot, Lot 11, at the corner of Franklin and Villa streets.
The scope of work for this initial $800,000 agreement does not include design services for development of Lot 11. This would be a separate project that would start if this option is selected, Printy said.
Once an alternative is chosen by council, SVA will begin design work. City officials will then return to council with three conceptual designs.
Earlier this year, the police department commissioned a study to assess its needs for staffing and resources now through 2030. The study should be complete early next year, and it will help guide the architects in their designs, Printy said.
If council approves the agreement tomorrow, design work would begin in February. City officials would return to council in the fall with the three project alternatives, and then conceptual design options based on the selected alternative would be brought to council by early 2021.
Price tags
There currently isn’t funding for the construction of the project, but it is included as a fiscal year 2023-2024 project with a placeholder budget of $40 million, Printy said.
Preliminary estimates for the three project alternatives range from $55 million to $133 million. City officials will return to council later on with updated estimates.
The city expects some of the project funding to come from the Ameswell development agreement and ground lease at 750 Moffett Blvd.
This city-owned site located at the intersection of Highway 101 and Moffett Boulevard houses a hotel, office building and parking garage.
In 2015, the city entered a lease agreement with Broadreach Capital Partners to develop the property.
Full projected annual revenue from the Ameswell property after a few years of operation is estimated at more than $3.5 million, according to city documents.
Council meets at 6:30 p.m. tonight (Dec. 3) at 500 Castro St.
