Clark Poised to Begin Construction on Landmark Long Beach Civic Center
July 13, 2016
LONG BEACH, Calif. – A July 8 groundbreaking ceremony marked the official start of construction on the new Long Beach Civic Center project, an expansive re-development effort that will serve as a catalyst for growth in the city’s downtown core.
The start of construction follows the Long Beach City Council’s December 2015 unanimous vote to proceed with the Civic Center development; execution of the project agreements took place in April 2016. The project is being delivered under a public-private partnership (P3), utilizing a design-build-finance-operate-maintain (DBFOM) contract with a performance-based availability payment structure for City of Long Beach components and a design-build-finance (DBF) contract for the Port of Long Beach components. The private sector development team includes The Plenary Group and Edgemoor Infrastructure & Real Estate as co-developers, Clark as design-builder, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill as lead designer, and Johnson Controls as major systems providers and long-term operating partner.
The Civic Center development totals nearly 600,000 square feet divided among three structures: a new City Hall (270,000 square feet), a new headquarters facility for the Port of Long Beach (237,000 square feet), and a new main library (92,000 square-feet), which will replace the existing main library and will be built over an underground parking structure. The City Hall and Port Headquarters buildings will each stand 11 stories tall and include below-grade parking. Roadway and pedestrian improvements, public plazas, and pathways will weave the six-city-block site together. Included in the project’s scope is the revitalization of nearby historic Lincoln Park. The team also will provide master planning services for a future mixed-use, transit-oriented, development which will include up to 580 residences, a 200-room hotel, and 40,000 square feet of retail.
The start of construction follows the completion of preliminary site operations, including the demolition of the old Long Beach Courthouse, which was replaced in 2013 by the Clark-built Governor George Deukmejian Courthouse.
Construction of the City Hall, Port Headquarters, and Main Library is expected to be complete in 2019.
The start of construction is a significant milestone and the result of a years-long intensive procurement and planning effort. The development team was shortlisted for the project in 2013 and selected as the City’s exclusive negotiating partner in December 2014.
“Bringing the Civic Center project to fruition has been a truly collaborative effort, and we’re delighted to see it move forward,” said Neal Fleming, President of Edgemoor Infrastructure & Real Estate. “Our team has held or participated in more than 120 community meetings, hosted countless discussions with various city departments, the port, and area residents, and sought ways to improve upon the original proposal and bring the best value for the city of Long Beach and its citizens.”
The Civic Center development is expected to bring 1,000 new residents to downtown Long Beach and generate 8,000 direct, indirect, and induced new jobs. The project team has begun hosting local workforce outreach events throughout the city in an effort to maximize the number of jobs filled by Long Beach residents; more events are planned as construction activities ramp up.
