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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1979-04-03; City Council; 5758-1; City departments interim space housingi 'I e CITY OF CARLSBAD e AGEKDA BILL NO. &75r * -ft/ Initial:% DATE : APRIL 3, 1979 DEPARTMENT : CITY MANAGER Subject: Dept.Hd, C. Mgr. R. * C. AttyQm -7- INTERIM SPACE TO HOUSE CITY DEPARTMENTS Statement of the Matter c The City is developing a program to provide permanent facilities to adequately house expanding City departments. Due to budget constraints, it may take considerable time in order to provide additional permanent facilities. In the interim, space needs to be provided to relieve overcrowded conditions. report discusses three alternative methods proposed to provide interim space for the Building, Engineering, Planning, and Public Works Administration Departments. The attached Exhibit: Memorandum to City Manager dated March 26, 1979. Recommendation: See recommendation in attached report. Council Action: 4-3-79 Council approved Alternate #2 in the staff report and directed staff to explore the economic feasibility of acquiring property in the general vicinity of State Street in the village area and report back to Council within 30 days. e e ‘I DATE : MARCH 26, 1979 TO: CITY MANAGER FROM: Administrative Assistant SUBJECT: INTERIM SPACE TO HOUSE CITY DEPARTMENTS The City Council at its February 20, 1979 meeting, conceptually cated at that meeting, and at subsequent meetings, it will take considerable time to implement the building program, and in the meantime, the City is looking for ways to provide additional space on an interim basis. The staff has investigated and analyzed various alternatives available to the City for interim space and this report will discuss those alternatives and present a recommended alternative. approved a building program for the City of Carlsbad. As indi- The most critical need for additional space at this time, is in the Planning, Public Works, and Engineering areas. The Planning Department is seriously overcrowded and has an immediate need for additional space to provide work area for its employees. Public Works and Engineering Departments face an even more criti- cal situation in that if they were fully staffed up at this time, they would not be able to provide working space for all authorized employees. In the past year the staff has analyzed the possi- bility of relocating various departments, or functions within departments, to other locations in order to create additional spac At this point it seems the only possible way to create additional space is through the interim relocation of a department into other facilities. Although all departments involved in community development functio have a strong need for adjacency, staff feels that it is feasible to relocate the Building Department to another location and allow the Planning, Engineering, and Public Works Departments to expand into the vacated area on an interim basis. Although interdepart- mental coordination will be more difficult, and on occasion, city customers may be forced to stop in more than one location for service, it is felt that these problems can be overcome through various staffing and coordination strategies and that this approac will not work an unreasonable hardship on City customers. In addition to the Building Department, it is felt that the Rede- velopment activities in the Planning Department can be readily relocated without causing significant problems or difficulties. By relocating these activities, a significant amount of space will be made available for the use of the severely impacted departments 1 March Page 2 26, 1979 a There appears to be three alternatives available to provide additional space. The developer of an office building in the vicinity of City Hall has indicated that there is space available in his building that he is interested in leasing to the City. Although the facility is located immediately adjacent to the City Hall, the rental price for the property and the requested term of the lease make this the most expensive alternative. The advantage of this alternative is that the space would be within one block of City Hall and would minimize travel requirements between the two facilities. The second alternative investigated by staff involves the acqui- Hall site to house the relocated departments. The advantage of this alternative is that all facilities would continue to be located in close proximity to one another and it would minimize the problems created by a lack of adjacency. However, the dis- advantages of this alternative involve aesthetic and cost con- siderations. In order to locate a modular building on the exist- ing City Hall site, it would be necessary to occupy presently landscaped areas and this would seriously detract from the pleasin: appearance of the City Hall site, Another disadvantage is that although additional office space would be created, no additional parking space would be available, and the parking problem would continue. The third alternative involves leasing space in the downtown area of Carlsbad along State Street. This alternative relates to the City's development effort and would involve the expenditure of community development block grant funds in order to be carried out, The fourth year Community Development Block Grant program budgets funds for the acquisition of property along State Street in order to create a pass-thru area and open up the interior of the block for pedestrian circulation. This alternative proposes the acquisition of property and the interim use of that property for City facilities until a new community development facility is constructed and the property can then be razed and utilized for the pedestrian circulation. The disadvantage of this alternative is that the Building Department would not be conveniently adjacent to City Hall, and on occasion, customers may be forced to make more than one stop in order to transact business. The advantage of this alternative is that community development funds could be utilized in order to finance the acquisition of the property, and that interim space could be made available at very little cost to the City. In addition to creating space for the Building Depart- ment, space would be available to house the Redevelopment Agency and Housing Authority. This alternative also has many beneficial effects on the redevelopment effort and will demonstrate the City' in one facility, clerical and administrative support can be shared and some economies can be realized in that regard. In the attache chart, the cost involved in these alternatives is analyzed. Al- though these costs are only estimates at this point, relative cost of the alternatives should remain unchanged. sition and placement of modular buildings on the existing City commitment toward redevelopment. By co-locating these activities e a L"ldLCI1 LO, lY /Y ' Page 3 RECOMMENDATION: There are advantages and disadvantages to all the listed alter- natives and there is no ideal solution for the problem of pro- viding interim space. However, in light of the City's need to carefully allocate capital improvement funds, the ability to , fund the State Street alternative with Community Development funds makes it highly desirable. Although preliminary investi- gations indicate that there is interest on the property owners' part in negotiating a sale to the City, without authorization from the City Council to pursue this alternative further, the financial feasibility of this alternative cannot be definitely established at this time. The staff, therefore, is requesting authority to enter into negotiations with the property owners' representative for the possible acquisition of property along State Street. If the City Council concurs, it is recommended that the staff be authorized to enter into negotiations €or the possible acquisition of property along State Street and report back to the City Council within 30 days on the feasibility of such acquisition. 7@- FRANK N. MANNEN Administrative Assistant FNM: gb attachment 0 0 \ ANALYSIS OF ALTERNATIVE METHODS OF PROVIDING INTERIM CITY HALL FACILITIES The following alternatives are analyzed based on the following assumptions: 1. The City would occupy the interim space for a period of four years. City would pay utilities and janitorial costs. 2. 3, Furnishing would be provided by City. Alternative I This alternative involves the leasing of space in an office buildin5 to be built at the northwest corner of the intersection of Pi0 Pic0 and Laguna Drive. The space will be available in 5-9 months. A. Space Allocation (2700 square feet available) Building Department 1000 Sq. Ft. Purchasing Department 600 Sq. Ft. 1600 Sq. Ft. B. Cost 1600 square feet @ 85C per month (85 x 1600 x 48 months) $65,280 Total Cost - $65,280 Cost per Sq. Ft/mo, 85C C. Funding Source: General Fund Alternative I1 This alternative involves the purchase and installation of modular building units in the landscaped area east of the City Council Chambers. The space would be available in 3-6 months. A. Space Allocation (1512 square feet available) Building Department 1000 Sq. Ft. Purchasing Department 500 Sq. Ft. 1500 Sq. Ft. 0 0 I , . . Page 2 B. Cost I 1 Three modular units approximately 12 x 42 would be acquired at an estimated cost, including transportation and set-up,of $25 square foot. There currently exists an excellent resale market for used modular buildings and the vendors of modular units pro- ject a salvage value or resale value of 50-100% of the purchase price. 1512 sq. ft. (3 $25 sq. ft. (1512 x 25) = $37,800 Assume 50% salvage value -18,900 Total Cost $18,900 Cost per sq. ft./month 26C C. Funding Source: General Fund Alternative I11 This alternative involves the acquisition of property along State Street for future use in the City’s redevelopment effort. In the interim the property would be used by City departments until perma- nent facilities are available. The property then would be utilized for redevelopment purposes. The space would be available in 3-6 months. A. Space Allocation (2840 square feet available) Building Department 1400 sq. ft. Redevelopment Agency Office 500 sq. ft. Housing Authority Office 2800 sq. ft. 900 sq. ft. -- B. Cost Property acquisition would be financed with CDBG Funds. Direct cost to the City would be for minor remodeling (painting, signing, carpeting, lighting, etc.) Remodeling costs would be offset by rental income from the office space allocated to the Housing Authority. Acquisition Cost CDBG Funds Remodeling 2840 sq. ft. @ $5 sq. ft. $14,200 Remodeling Cost $14,200 Less Rental Income from Housing Authority -16,800 Total Cost O* Page 3 0 0 e. ..* + C, Funding Source: CDBG Funds (for acquisition) General Funds (for remodeling) * * If the City were to charge the Housing Authority the same rent it is now paying for office space, the rental income over a four-year period will exceed remodeling costs.