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Waller County advances Justice Tower design after consultants cut $90M plan to $100M estimate
Summary
County commissioners voted to move from design development to construction documents for a redesigned five-story Justice Tower after presentations showed cost escalation from pre-COVID estimates and a $99.8 million DD budget. Consultants said a GMP could be presented by December 2026 and construction could start in January 2027 if documents are approved.
Waller County Commissioners Court voted to advance detailed design for a new Justice (courthouse) Tower, moving from design-development documents to full construction documents in order to obtain a guaranteed maximum price (GMP).
The decision followed a series of presentations from county facilities staff, judges, the district attorney and project consultants that framed the building as a response to rapid population growth and courtroom capacity shortfalls. "We are full again," the facilities director told the court, describing how departments are already occupying temporary swing space and why additional courtrooms and secure circulation are needed. The court debated timing and cost risks before approving the motion to proceed.
BSW project architect Ryan McLemore showed a redesign that reduces the earlier eight-story concept to a five-story building while retaining the programmatic needs for courtrooms, jury assembly and secure inmate circulation. "We were able to get the price back to around a $100,000,000," McLemore said, explaining changes that included shifting mechanical equipment to the roof and eliminating interstitial floors.
Nick Kemming, director of pre-construction and estimating at Sodelco Construction, presented a DD (design-development) budget of $99,779,083 for a 148,618-square-foot Justice Center and an estimated rate of about $671 per square foot. Kemming described site and building cost splits and said that moving to construction documents would take 5–6 months and allow a GMP presentation in December 2026 and a potential construction notice to proceed in January 2027. "If we had approval today to move to construction documents, we could have the GMP in January," Kemming told the court.
Judges and the district attorney argued the county needs additional courtrooms and space now to avoid a backlog that could undermine the right to a speedy trial. One judge described current caseloads measured in the high hundreds to thousands of active cases and urged commissioners that delays will increase costs and strain the criminal justice system.
Commissioners expressed concern about financing options and escalation risk but voted to approve moving into construction documents so the county can obtain firm prices. The motion passed with no roll-call tally reported in the transcript; the court directed staff to identify funding, potentially including fund balance, tax notes or other financing, before final GMP approval.
What happens next: staff will work with the architect and construction team to finish construction documents (estimated 5–6 months), return with a GMP for commissioner approval, and then plan for a construction start in early 2027 and a roughly 26-month construction schedule to project completion.
