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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Carrie Braun Public Information Manager
(714) 788-8060
Carrie.Braun@ocgov.com
County of Orange Celebrates Building 16 Groundbreaking
Santa Ana, CA (September 28, 2017) — The County of Orange held a ceremonial groundbreaking today for the new Building 16, the first building to be constructed as part of the County’s Civic Center Facilities Master Plan for the Civic Center area in Santa Ana.
County officials used shovels to turn over soil where the future six-floor building will stand in 2020, when construction is expected to be completed.
Chairwoman Michelle Steel, Second District Supervisor, said, “It is exciting to see the beginning stages of this major improvement project. The empty space we see here today will transform into a beautiful building where members of the public will be able to more easily get their needs met by the County.”
The new building will provide approximately 250,000 gross square feet of new office space, two levels of below grade secured employee parking, and an Event and Conference Center planned for use by both the County and the public. The building will also include a One Stop public counter with 13 departments represented, offering efficient public access to services of multiple County agencies.
“This building represents the future of Orange County government and its commitment to serving the people in the most efficient and effective way possible,” said Vice Chair Andrew Do, First District Supervisor. “We’re rethinking what accessing services should look like, we’re creating a better way for customer service and serving our residents.”
According to plans for Building 16, employees from OC Public Works, OC Waste and Recycling, Treasurer-Tax Collector, Auditor-Controller, and Clerk-Recorder will move into new building. The building’s design will improve space use by reducing per-employee square footage from 375 feet to 260 feet – reflecting changing workspace needs and also lowering operating costs.
Reducing the square feet of space per employee is a more efficient use of space and thus taxpayer dollars,” said Supervisor Todd Spitzer, Third District. “The new workspaces will improve the collaborative effort, promoting innovation, teamwork, and efficiency among County employees and the constituents we serve.”
The original Building 16, also called the Welfare Building, was completed in 1955 and was the first structure completed in the Santa Ana Civic Center plan. It was a three-story structure that had been unoccupied from the mid-1980s until its demolition in February 2017.
“This groundbreaking has been years in the making,” said Supervisor Shawn Nelson, Fourth District. “I look forward to seeing the new and improved Building 16 completed as well as the rest of the elements in the Civic Center Facilities Master Plan.”
The project to build a new Building 16 will be delivered by a Public Private Partnership (P3) between the County and the Griffin Structures team utilizing tax-exempt financing with a long-term lease with the County, which will then own the facility at the end of the lease term.
“In undertaking this project, the County is committed to being good stewards of taxpayer dollars,” said Supervisor Lisa Bartlett, Fifth District. “We are leveraging the expertise of the public and private sectors to build this new facility as efficiently as possible.”
Approximate construction and affiliated costs for Building 16 are estimated to be $152 million and the building is estimated to be ready for occupancy in first quarter 2020.
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“Turning of the Soil” ceremony
Pictured from L to R:
Shane Silsby, Director of OC Public Works
Mark Malbon, Asst. Treasurer-Tax Collector for Shari Freidenrich, Treasurer-Tax Collector Eric Woolery, Auditor-Controller
Chairwoman Michelle Steel, Second District Supervisor
Vice Chair Andrew Do, First District Supervisor
Hugh Nguyen, Clerk-Recorder
Frank Kim, County Executive Officer
Tom Koutroulis, Director of OC Waste & Recycling
Roger Torriero, CEO of Griffin Holdings
Dylan Wright, Director of OC Community Resources
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