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Court approves finish‑out of courthouse 3rd Floor; presentation lists GMP figure in packet
Summary
Commissioners approved construction to finish the courthouse 3rd Floor with a guaranteed maximum price presented during the meeting; staff said documents list the GMP and a project schedule targeting mid‑2026 occupancy, though transcript formatting made the precise GMP number unclear.
County staff and the architect presented designs and a guaranteed maximum price (GMP) to finish the 3rd Floor of the new courthouse and add required parking.
Carlos Garza, the county’s director of operations, summarized the project timeline and said BSW Architects completed construction documents and trade contractor solicitation; he then presented the GMP included in the project materials. The transcript shows the presentation line as a guaranteed maximum price of "5,910,000" with a subsequent adjacent "$333" token in the spoken record; the county packet should be consulted for the exact GMP figure.
Architect Ryan McLemore walked commissioners through the plan: two judge’s chambers, a primary courtroom with seating for about 100 people, a reduced‑capacity courtroom for smaller hearings or mediation and jury room space for roughly 14 people. The finish‑out will also bring civil DA staff to the 3rd Floor and include furniture, AV and other soft costs, which the presenter said were included in the presented price.
Garza and the design team said the parking addition is required by the City of Hempstead to meet parking requirements for jury selection days and that the alternate pricing was isolated in bid documents but treated as required in the project scope. Project leaders estimated completion and operational readiness in mid‑2026 if the court approved the change order and GMP.
Commissioners discussed budget set‑asides (tax notes previously issued), potential savings in other projects that could be applied, and construction‑period disruption mitigation (coordination to limit noisy work during Wednesday mornings and stagger parking construction). The court voted to approve the project and associated change order; the vote was recorded as approved with no opposed votes in the transcript.
Next steps: the county will execute the change order and integrate the item into the construction schedule; contracting documents in the packet should be consulted for the precise GMP figure and scope inclusions.
