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Civic Center Project
Bidding Information
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The Newport Beach Civic Center Project
Project Overview
In November 2008, the Newport Beach City Council selected the architectural firm of Bohlin Cywinski Jackson (BCJ) to design the Newport Beach Civic Center Project. The Council selected BCJ’s concept design after a nationwide design competition. The new Civic Center will be located at 1100 Avocado Avenue, adjacent to the Newport Beach Central Library.
The Civic Center Project includes:
- A 16-acre park, which includes a dog park, a civic lawn for outdoor events, places for art, a restored wetlands, 1.23 miles of walking and viewing trails, a belvedere and other view opportunities, and restrooms. This park will be the City’s fifth largest park.
- A 17,000-square-foot expansion of the Newport Beach Central Library, effectively linking the Library and Civic Center. The expansion of the library will improve its children’s programs, reading rooms, a sound and video room, and will add a cafe, credit union, and restrooms.
- A 450-space parking structure, to accommodate up to 350 cars associated with the city office building and 100 cars associated with the library’s use.
- Extensive earth removal, to assure that the parking structure and city office building stay below an approved “view plane” that protects the public’s view of the harbor and ocean from MacArthur Boulevard.
- An Emergency Readiness Center to serve as the permanent home of the City’s emergency response team.
- A new Community Room, seating up to 150 persons and made available for lectures, arts programs, and other community events with the ability to open to the outside covered area.
- A new City Council Chambers, seating up to 150 persons and that doubles as a space for community meetings when the Council or its commissions is/are not in session.
- A new city office building, housing the roughly 240 employees who work at Newport Beach City Hall. The office building includes a large “One Stop Shop” to improve customer service for persons seeking parking permits or getting planning or building approvals. The office building would replace the “old” City Hall, now located at 3300 Newport Boulevard on the Balboa Peninsula. Via their approval of Measure B, the voters of Newport Beach amended the City Charter in February 2008 to direct that City Hall be moved to the location at 1100 Avocado. The City Council has not yet made a determination on what will become of the “old” City Hall site.
- An additional, proposed component of the project is a pedestrian bridge that would allow walkers to safely cross over San Miguel Avenue without impacting vehicular traffic. This will be bid as an additive item and the City Council will make the determination about awarding the work.
The project team is currently (May 2010) estimating that the total project cost for the design, site work, construction, and fixtures, furniture and equipment for all project components is approximately $128 million. That figure contains a prudent contingency and inflation escalator. The project costs will not be finalized until all bids for the various components of the project are received.
As planned, the project will be constructed in three main phases. Site preparation, excavation and shoring work will begin in May 2010 and continue through the end the calendar year. Then in December, the parking structure construction will begin and last approximately 10 months. The final phase of the project will begin in early 2011 and will include the construction of the library expansion, park and city hall building. All project components are currently scheduled for completion in late 2012. If, however, economic conditions change or project costs increase, the City Council may choose to delay construction of one or more project elements.
To read recent news releases about the project, please click here or here.
| project milestones |
schedule |
| Design Development and Construction Documentation |
November 2009 - Spring 2010 |
| Start earth removal and grading |
May 2010 |
| Bidding and contract award |
Late 2010 |
| Start of construction |
Early 2011 |
| Project completion, park opening, and city office building move-in |
Late 2012 |
LEED Certification
The Council directed that the Civic Center Project seek and attain at least a LEED Silver designation. LEED stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design – part of the US Green Building Council’s recognition of sustainable buildings (www.usgbc.org). As such, the Civic Center Project’s design includes:
- Passive heating and cooling systems in the city office building, including a raised floor system, as well as advanced lighting technologies.
- California-friendly landscaping in the main portion of the park.
- Adjacent transit facilities and other ways to increase the number of city workers who carpool, bike to work, or use alternative fuel vehicles.
- Orientation of the building will maximize the ability for natural ventilation and natural light.
Project Team
BCJ’s team includes Peter Walker & Partners (landscape architects) and Arup (engineering). The City has hired C.W. Driver to serve as the City’s construction manager and LSA Associates to complete the environmental work for the project.
For More Information
Construction-related questions should be directed to William Hahn, C.W. Driver, at 949-261-5100 or whahn@cwdriver.com. To remain updated on the Newport Beach Civic Center Project, please e-mail us at sbadum@newportbeachca.gov or call 949-644-3311.
Project Background Information
Design Competition
Environmental Documents
Studies and Reports
Needs Assessment