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County consultants, real-estate advisers urge clearer decisions on master facilities plan as Clayton deadline looms
Summary
Avis and Young and the county's consulting team reviewed earlier master planning work and urged the Public Improvements Committee to define scope and make decisions quickly. Committee members proposed forming a working group to narrow options; staff reminded members procurement rules and that multiple previous studies (Cornerstone/WSP/HOK) exist.
Rick Dames, a St. Louis-based real estate consultant with Avis and Young, summarized the county's prior master facilities planning work and urged the committee to convert options into a single, quantifiable path.
Dames said Avis and Young completed a master facilities plan that included seven options ranging from renovating the existing building to building a new county seat, and he emphasized the process challenge: “You have a real estate problem. This got a business problem,” he said. “We need to decide what it is that you want to do.”
Why it matters: The committee is operating under a timeline set by the City of Clayton to address sprinkler and other code-related issues at the county building; several council members described limited time to secure temporary locations or long-term solutions. Councilman Harter said parts of the neighboring police headquarters may become available as the police relocate to a new precinct, creating potential interim space.
County staff and consultants stressed process discipline. Dames recommended first defining what the county needs operationally, quantifying size and cost, then deciding build versus lease versus satellite locations and financing. He said that design and construction typically are the easier parts once scope and finance are decided. Jason Mayfield of WSP/WSB (consultant team) said the consulting team can provide detailed answers in a working-group setting.
Committee members and staff reviewed previous reports: Avis and Young (with HOK) led a 2021 master facilities plan; WSP completed an updated analysis in 2023. Council members said they had not uniformly reviewed the reports and requested time to study them. Stephanie (Public Works) and other staff again reminded members that the county must use competitive procurement if it chooses to engage private partners for further work.
Several practical questions were raised: what would it take to bring the current building into compliance (a 2021 slide deck included a $88,400,000 estimate for a broad renovation package that included sprinklers and asbestos abatement), whether leasing options (for example, Northwest Plaza or other downtown properties) could provide interim capacity, and how to manage costs and public buy-in for expensive options.
Councilman Hancock proposed forming a smaller working group of council members, staff and the executive office to move from options to a timeline and decision points. Multiple members and consultants expressed support for a working group and for producing a schedule with decision dates to meet the Clayton-related timeline.
Ending: No formal policy or financing decision was made. The committee agreed to further study, to assemble a working group for focused decision-making, and to return to the committee with clarified options, schedules and cost updates.
