Council presses DOC on plan and timeline for new jail annex; DGS RFI set for May 15

Councilmember Brooke Pinto opened the hearing by telling DOC she would press for detail about the administration's plan for a new jail annex, including who will finance it and where inmates would be housed while construction proceeds. The mayor's FY2027 capital plan includes a placeholder of $75,000,000 in FY2032 for a new annex.

Tom (Tom) Faust, director of the Department of Corrections, said Department of General Services planned to issue a request for information on May 15 to gauge market interest in funding and delivery approaches. "The Department of General Services expects to release a request for interest this month, May 15," Faust said, describing two primary delivery options the RFI will explore: traditional CIP funding and an alternative lease/leaseback (third‑party financing) approach. He told the committee that Phase 1 construction is estimated to be complete in the summer of 2032 and Phase 2 around 2035. Faust also said the administration's present planning-level estimate for total project cost is substantially higher than earlier figures and could be in the hundreds of millions; in committee discussion he referenced a current range between roughly $900 million and $1 billion for full construction and renovation of the campus.

Faust and his deputies told council members the RFI will gather market input on delivery approaches and that the District would retain operational control of the facility if a private financing approach were used. Pinto and other members pressed for DGS to share RFI language with DOC and the committee before publication and asked for follow-up on which financing alternative is recommended and how the placeholder funds in 2032 relate to the larger multi‑year construction estimate. The committee requested DOC and DGS provide the RFI text and a clearer schedule, including when procurement documents for design and construction will be released.