Eddy County hears detailed design, cost and schedule update for new detention center

Studio Southwest Architects briefed the Eddy County Commission on March 18 about design development for a proposed new county detention center, including building layout, modular construction methods, future expansion capacity and a statement of probable cost that places the building and site near $148 million.

Architect Andy Benson said the current design program is 42,341 square feet, expanded from an earlier conceptual package. He told commissioners design-development documents now run hundreds of sheets and include a detailed “statement of probable cost” and a full basis-of-design book for systems and equipment. Benson said the team sized infrastructure—kitchen, laundry and medical—so the campus can accommodate two future housing phases of about 50,000 square feet each.

Benson described construction methods the design team has prioritized to shorten delivery time: significant use of precast concrete panels and manufactured, plug-and-play shower modules, prewired and preplumbed. “Those will arrive, the precast will go up, the roof structure goes on, then the steel cells will arrive and be rolled into place,” he said, noting modular elements can be built off-site while site work proceeds.

The presentation also summarized schedule milestones. The team is completing design-development work now, expects 50% construction documents in June, and a full construction-document package in October. The architects said an advertisement period for an RFP is currently projected for October–November, with contract negotiation and a construction start that could push into the next calendar year. Benson said the estimated construction duration used in the schedule is about 765 calendar days.

On costs, the architects’ early design-development estimate shows a building cost in the current takeoff and estimating assumptions that Benson described as “roughly $900 per square foot” for the building portion in the current market. He presented a multi-part cost summary that included a building subtotal, labor and remote-work markups, general conditions, bonds and insurance, design contingency (noted at 7.5% in the estimate) and a 5.7% escalation allowance. Benson said the combined building and site total in the design-development estimate is about $148 million; he emphasized the estimate carries contingency and will be refined at the 50% and 100% construction-document milestones.

Commissioners asked about contingency and the monthly effect of escalation. Benson said the estimating firm (Cummings Group) incorporates local contractor input and that escalation increases project cost every month the project remains uncontracted. County staff and the design team said they would return with an updated estimate at the 50% construction-document milestone to refine contingencies.

No formal action was required on the item; commissioners received the update and asked staff to return with future cost and schedule refinements.