County staff recommend design firm for health and human services renovation after adaptive-reuse review

County staff recommended an adaptive-reuse renovation of the county'owned public health and social services building and presented a design-firm recommendation after a competitive qualifications process, but no formal contract award was made at the pre-agenda meeting.

County Manager Brian, the presenter on the project, told the Board of Commissioners that the building currently houses roughly 250 employees and that staff expect a multi-phase renovation that will likely require borrowing to complete. "We think this is the best model, given the concepts that we have," Brian said when describing a single-prime (low-hard-bid) approach and the decision to pursue a design-bid-build procurement path rather than design-build for this scope.

The manager said staff believe the county can adapt the existing structure rather than build new square footage, and described the building as structurally sound with mechanical systems that can be reused in part. He said the work will involve substantial interior demolition and phased relocations of staff to off-site space, including the Foothills Higher Education Center, while portions of the building are renovated. Staff estimated the planning phase could take six to eight months and the overall project might finish by Dec. 31, 2027, though the manager framed that as a planning estimate rather than a fixed deadline.

Staff posted a request for qualifications for architectural and engineering services and received five submissions. After a two-round evaluation that included in-person presentations, Holland & Hammock scored highest and is the recommended firm to lead design and construction administration. The manager told the board the project team preferred a firm that performs both design and construction administration in-house; one finalist, he said, would subcontract construction administration and that raised concerns about added cost and delay.

Board members and staff discussed staging and security needs for services that include child welfare and other functions that involve vulnerable clients. The manager said the county has prior experience shifting staff to temporary locations during hurricane response and intends to use similar strategies during the renovation.

No formal action was taken at the pre-agenda meeting; staff said they will present a contract award for board consideration at a later regular meeting pending legal review and economic negotiations.

The issue remains an active item on the decision agenda.