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Consultants present options and high-level cost estimates for Cayuga County office building contaminated with asbestos
Summary
Campus Construction Management presented four high-level options — remediation, repairs/renovation, replacement, or demolition — for the county office building. Consultants gave preliminary cost estimates, timelines and recommended next steps, and staff described an inventory and decontamination protocol for items removed from the building.
Campus Construction Management consultants presented to the Cayuga County Legislature on a plan and high-level cost estimates for the county office building, which the consultant team said is contaminated with hazardous materials and requires abatement before reuse or demolition.
Giselle Cannon, director of project development at Campus Construction Management, introduced the scope and methodology the firm used to prepare four conceptual project options: full hazardous-material remediation; remediation followed by repairs and renovation; construction of a new replacement building at a different site; and demolition (with prior remediation). "We're at a 100,000-foot level of a project right now," Cannon said, describing the conceptual nature of the estimates.
Key cost and timeline estimates provided by the consultant team (high-level, conceptual): - Remediation (hazardous-material abatement) subtotal: approximately $9,000,000, consultant estimate. - Repairs/renovation after remediation (gutting, window and elevator work, reconfiguration and MEP upgrades): consultant-provided anticipated bid value and total project estimate described in discussion as roughly $51,200,000 (including construction, contingencies and soft costs); the consultant noted this is design-dependent and subject to change. - Full replacement at a new site: consultant identified roughly $56,000,000 in construction costs and approximately $69,000,000 total when design and soft costs are included (consultant estimate). - Demolition (after remediation) estimated by the consultant at about $7,250,000 (conceptual estimate).
On sequencing and cost savings, the consultants told the legislature that combining remediation with demolition in a single contract could yield savings compared with doing the two scopes separately — they estimated potential savings in the range of roughly 10%–20% if scopes are combined.
The consultants also outlined operational details: the building's ceilings have spray-on fireproofing that is presumed contaminated, contents left in the building are treated as contaminated and must either be cleaned and salvaged or placed in contaminated waste handling, and certain floors appear to have different levels of contamination and condition. The presentation noted existing inventories and floor-by-floor documentation created by county staff (Tom Munley's team) and that items identified for salvage would be decontaminated before reuse.
On timing, the consultants estimated abatement/remediation would take about 10 months from mobilization to reaching a condition where staff could safely reoccupy parts of the building; full remediation plus remodel and re-occupancy could extend toward two years depending on scope and design, the consultants said.
Several legislators pressed for clarity on prevailing wage and procurement. The consultants said public-works prevailing-wage requirements apply to municipal projects and that private developers pursuing a purchase might have different labor cost profiles; they cautioned that market labor shortages are pushing private-sector rates closer to prevailing wages. The firm said it would recruit regional contractors and attempt to prioritize local subcontractors where feasible.
On contents and employee personal property, the meeting record shows a county-led inventory of items in the building, with photographs and an online database. The consultants and staff said items removed from the building must be decontaminated; the inventory includes markings for items to be retained and items to be discarded. The consultants noted the county must decide who will choose which items are salvaged and how employees will be informed; staff said they will develop communications once the legislature decides how to proceed.
The presentation concluded with staff and legislators acknowledging multiple options remain and that an architect and more detailed design work would be required to narrow cost ranges before any contract or budget decision.
