The difference between moving the Weld County Justice Center 2 miles north or keeping it downtown just got a bit more complicated, as downtown Greeley developers on Monday presented a much different conclusion to the expense of such a move 鈥� around $200 million less than originally presented.
A team from Greeley-based Richmark Development offered a less-expensive alternative to the county consultant鈥檚 proposed price tag on keeping county offices downtown versus building a new center two miles north on O Street. Last week, the Board of Weld County Commissioners heard from their consultant, Gensler, which came up with a .
The Richmark team immediately began working the numbers, backing their own conclusions to stay downtown with construction industry heavyweights such as Adolfson & Peterson Construction, and GH Phipps and Kimley-Horn, to secure what they felt were more realistic costs of providing 200,000 square feet for the justice center, providing for 50 years of growth, and reducing jail transportation costs, all while remaining downtown.
鈥淲e can make it cheaper through this plan,鈥� said Logan Richardson, in a packed room of city and county officials for a commissioner work session. 鈥淲e only get one chance to do this, where we have three organizations needing new facilities, we can do something really special that will last.鈥�
He was referencing the concurrent needs of both the city and the school district in building new facilities to replace their aging buildings that were damaged in last spring鈥檚 flooding. Richmark came up with a
In Richmark鈥檚 envisioning of a combined campus, costs would range from $209.5 million to $234.9 million. Moving the Weld offices to O Street, the Richmark team reported, would cost from $239 million to $287.8 million.
The Gensler architectural and planning team spent 18 months working on the county鈥檚 facilities master plan to determine where the county could grow in the next 50 years. A chief concern was impending growth of the Weld County judicial center, which is expected to gain several new judges in five to seven years due to the county鈥檚 growth. At present, Weld鈥檚 judicial center only has room for one extra judge, and two new judges are expected in the next year.
Gensler came up with a plan last fall to move downtown county functions north across the street from the Weld County Administration building, a finding that has struck fear in the hearts of many who have a stake in downtown鈥檚 success 鈥� including the Richardson family, who make up Richmark Development, and who have spent the last decade revitalizing the downtown corridor.
Moving to O Street would mean the loss of 500 employees downtown, and that group鈥檚 roughly $2.65 million a year in purchase power.
Meanwhile, to secure a downtown location, the city has offered $10 million toward building a parking garage, the Downtown Development Authority has offered $1 million toward a garage, an apparent anonymous donor has offered another $1 million, and downtown business owners have come up with $420,302.05 ( the original cost of the courthouse when it was completed in 1917), all as pledges to keep offices downtown. A parking garage is seen as vital to the growing need for parking due to county and judicial growth.
The Richmark plan would see a new justice center built in three years, with the city of Greeley and Greeley-Evans School District 6 developing around it in a shared development that would keep all major employers and downtown business traffic where it鈥檚 been for the last 150 years. Their plan would contemplate land swaps and razing several buildings to make way for new.
The Richmark plan as presented comes in cheaper in many respects because of assumptions the county consultant made in the city code that did not allow buildings over certain heights or the need for setback requirements in the commercial zoning. But those rules don鈥檛 apply in downtown, which has a general improvement district overlay, explained Stephanie Van Dyken, vice president of land development for Richmark.
鈥淪ometimes when we are diving into a site plan, it鈥檚 hard to see the forest through the trees,鈥� Van Dyken told the commissioners. 鈥淲here you see height limits, this area of town is exempt from those standards. You can go as tall as you want, and you can come all the way up to the property line and provide zero parking spaces. To fit that 200,000 square feet in a city block, remove those setbacks and you have it. That鈥檚 the solution right there. 鈥� Because of the downtown area being exempt, your city planning process gets slightly more straight forward downtown than on O Street.鈥�
Commissioners asked a few questions on the cost differences, but ultimately determined more meetings need to occur to flesh out the situation. Richmark鈥檚 presentation assigned from $26 million to $44 million in traffic/utility improvements to the O Street location versus no costs iin the downtown scenario. The plan also included up to a $30 million cost to the county to renovate the old courthouse once offices moved out. The plan also plugged in $7.2 million in a cost to build a tunnel from a new justice center to the Weld County Jail.
Commissioners, however, seemed skeptical.
鈥淚t does not escape me that 鈥� we might be putting a $40 saddle on a $4 horse,鈥� said Commissioner Scott James. 鈥淒owntown needs some work, let鈥檚 be candid, as far as improvements in infrastructure.鈥�
The Gensler proposal also suggested that a downtown scenario and expectations of 15 years worth of construction, would impinge on downtown business. The Richmark plan calls for getting the justice center completed in three years, and phasing the other moves in around that.
鈥淧hase 1 construction is estimated to contribute $88.2 million in total GDP to Weld,鈥� Adam Frazier, president of Richmark Development LLC, told the commissioners. 鈥淐onstruction workers are estimated to generate an average annual retail spending of $3.54 million in downtown. When we were rebuilding Eighth Avenue, Roma鈥檚 Pizza was never happier, the same with Cheba Hut.鈥�
Weld County already has scheduled three county meetings to discuss the move with constituencies, and commissioners said they would be talking to others in the community, as well, including downtown business owners.
Meanwhile, the Richmark team presented its plan to the Weld County District 6 School Board Monday night. District Superintendent Deirdre Pilch attended the county meeting on Monday.
鈥淲e鈥檝e been working on downtown Greeley for the better part of 10 years,鈥� Tyler Richardson, vice president of Richmark Holdings LLC, told the commissioners. 鈥淲e took a swing when no one else would. We said 鈥榶es鈥� to downtown when others said 鈥榥o.鈥� We鈥檝e been positive about downtown when others are not, we call out people when they bash our community. We鈥檝e proven it can work.鈥�
Weld Commissioner Chair Perry Buck said the multiple numbers on the projects prompted the need for meetings.
鈥淲e have to dive a little deeper and we鈥檒l probably have to get Gensler and Richmark together because that鈥檚 a huge disparity,鈥� Buck said of the two proposals鈥� numbers. 鈥淚鈥檓 happy wherever it goes as long as it makes sense for the taxpayer.鈥�
