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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2003-03-17 City Council (4)TO: FROM: HONORABLE CITY COUNCIL CITY MANAGER MARCH 17, 2003 APPROVAL OF BUILDING SPINE PROJECT 10304 DATE: SUBJECT: DEPARTMENT: PUBLIC WORKS CMR:176:03 SCOPE OF WORK TO DEMOLISH ROTH CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM 8 RECOMMENDATION Staff recommends that City Council: o Approve the demolition of the spine of the Roth Building, in addition to the wings; and Direct staff to amend the Request for Proposals for non-profit organizations to lease the Roth Building. BACKGROUND The 10,000 square foot (sf) original Roth Building was constructed in 193! at the east corner of Homer and Bryant Streets as a medical building. In 1947, a two-story-plus- basement addition was added which consists of a 7,000 sf spine and two wings. Attachment A is a plan of the current building. The original building was designated to the City’s Historic Buildings Inventory in Category 2. The spine and the wings are not considered historic. In April 2000, the City Council approved the purchase of the Roth Building for potential use as a public facility in the proposed South of Forest Avenue (SOFA) park. In acquiring the Roth Building, the City entered into a development agreement with the Palo Alto Medical Foundation (PAMF). The Development Ageement stipulates that the CitT must complete demolition of the non-historic wings by July 19, 2003. The purpose of the demolition is to provide for additional park space and to provide a buffer of approximately 100 feet between the historic Roth Building and a residential project being undertaken by SummerHill Homes on the same block immediately south of the Roth Building. " 0On December 11, 2001, staff presented a City Manager’s Report (CMR:~40: 1) on the Roth Building’s potential reuse to the Policy and Services Committee of the CitT Council. Staff indicated at that meeting that the option of retaining the spine, if it could be done CMR:176:03 Page 1 of 5 without si~onificant additional expense, would provide flexibility for the City as user of the building, or for tenants if that should be the Council direction. At that meeting, the Palo Alto Historica! Association (PAHA) mentioned that it is potentially interested in leasing the Roth Building, including the spine and the basements under the wings, from the City for use as a history museum. Accordingly, the Policy and Serv’ices Convnittee recommended that staff prepare a Request for Proposals (RFP) for non-profit organizations to lease either the: 10,000 sf original Roth Building; or 10,000 sf original Roth Building plus the 7,000 sf spine; or 10,000 sf original Roth Building plus the 7,000 sf spine plus the 11,000 sf basements under the wings. On March 4, 2002, staff presented Council with CMR:161:02 for final direction on whether to keep or demolish the spine and the basements under the wings. Council a~’eed with staff’s reconm~endation to demolish the basements, but to keep the spine. Council directed staff to issue the RFP allowing non-profit organizations to propose on leasing either the original Roth Building or the original Roth Building plus the spine. Approved by Council on May 20, 2002, the RFP was advertised with proposals due November 25, 2003. Capital Improvement Progam (CIP) Project 10304, Roth Building Wings Demolition, was adopted in Fiscal Year (icY) 2002-03, providing $930,000 to demolish the Roth ¯Building wings and basements. This funding was to come from reducing the Infrastructure Reserve. During 2002, SummerHill Homes approached the City with an offer to design and manage the demolition project for the City" in return for the City allowing SummerHill Homes to use the resulting site as a staging area for its adjacent residential project. Accordingly, the City Manager and Sunm~erHilt Homes entered into an a~eement that requires Sun~nerHill Homes to design, bid, contract and manage the demolition project, saving the City the staffing costs to coordinate and manage these tasks. In return, the City would use the CIP-budgeted amount to reimburse SummerHill Homes for the desi~ and demolition costs and allow SummerHill Homes to use the resulting site as a staging area until December 31, 2003. As part of the a~’eement mentioned above, Sunm~erHill Homes stockpiled dirt from the excavation of one of its residential projects on the future Palo Alto Housing project site (west corner of Bryant and Channing Streets). This dirt will be used later to fill in the hole left when the Roth Building wings and basements are removed. This saved SummerHill Homes $30,350 in trucking and dumping fees, and SunvnerHill Homes passed this savings to the City in a check in October 2002. As part of the FY 2002/03 Mid-Year Budget Amendment Ordinance (BAO), the City will deposit this $30,350 into CMR: 176:03 Page 2 of 5 the Roth Building Wings Demolition CIP project, increasing that budget from $930,000 to $960,350. SulnmerHill Homes completed the asbestos abatement and the design of the Roth Building Wings Demolition in December 2002. In January 2003, SummerHill Homes bid the demolition work to local contractors. The bids, when combined with the asbestos abatement and design costs, came in at approximately $1,185,000, or approximately $225,000 over budget. DISCUSSION The City’s original estimate to demolish the Roth Building wings was prepared with unit costs and without any plans. During the design, it became apparent that a substantial amount of unanticipated temporary structural concrete and steel work is required to enable the spine to withstand earthquake forces until the final renovation of the building takes place at some point in the future. Essentially, the spine and the wings were built as one addition and are structurally integated, and separating the wings from the spine leaves the spine with only partial structural support. It is this unanticipated temporary structural work to shore the spine that caused the bids to come in over budget. If the spine were removed, the original Roth Building’s structural system can be relatively simply restored by adding a pl?~¥ood sheamTall at the resulting opening. The structural concrete and steel work required for shoring the spine would be eliminated. The Roth Building demolition designer, Stoecker and Northway Architects, informed the City that there would be substantially less temporary structural work, and probably less cost. if the spine were removed. Accordingly, staff asked Stoecker and Northway to prepare a conceptual desi~ of the temporary structural shoring work required if the spine were removed in addition to the wings. This desig-n was completed and the new cost estimate for removal of the wings and spine and the construction of the ply~¥ood shearwall at the opening left in the original Roth Building is $745,000, which includes a 10% design contingency. This estimate is $440,000 less than the bid price for the current project that retains the spine. Remova! of the wings and spine of the Roth Building will result in just the original Roth Building left standing. Staff feels that the original Roth Building will have a much better architectural look than the original building plus the spine. We feel the spine, without the wings, will look awkward, bulky and out of balance with the original building. See Attachment B for the Bryant Street view of the original Roth Building, and Attachment C for the Bryant Street view of the original Roth Building plus the spine. See Attachment D for the Waverly Street view of the original building, and Attachment E for the Waverly Street view of the original building plus the spine. CMR:176:03 Page 3 of 5 Demolition of the spine will not preclude non-profit organizations interested in leasing the Roth Building from adding onto the building in that same area. In fact, an addition is anticipated here to, at a minimum, replace the stair~¥ell and elevator that are in the spine. Staff believes that an addition on the southeast side of the original Roth Building would be more compatible architecturally and functionally with the original building than renovating the spine. Furthermore, the size of an addition could be determined by the space needs instead of having to accept the 7,000 sf in the spine. Staff feels that an addition, as long as it is no closer to SummerHill Homes’ project than the spine, would not violate the terms of the Development A~eement. Finally, staff feels that an addition would be of better construction and probably less costly than renovating the spine. Demolition of the spine could potentially benefit any non-profit organization interested in leasing the original Roth Building, but not the spine. The RFP states that the successful proposer will be obligated to remove the spine at their cost if they are only interested in leasing the original Roth Building. The extra expense of removing the spine may deter some non-profit organizations from submitting a proposal. Retention of the spine has schedule impacts due to the need to prepare and authorize a BAO to supplement the budget and due to the considerable amount of structura! work required to shore the spine. If Council chooses to retain the spine, staff will work with SummerHill Homes to accelerate the schedule as much as possible to ensure completion of the demolition by July 19, 2003. However, if this date cannot be met, then staff would recommend that Council amend the Development Ageement to postpone the completion date a month or so. A delay in the completion of the demolition may also impact the schedule of the Palo Alto Housing project as the dirt stockpiled on its site may be in the way if they plan, as currently anticipated, to begin construction in August 2003. Staff estimates the cost to move the dirt off of the Palo Alto Housing site to a temporary location prior to placing it in the hole lef~ by the Roth Building wings demolition at $5O,O0O. For the cost, schedule, and architectural reasons discussed above, staff recommends that the Roth Building spine be demolished and the RFP for non-profits to lease the building be amended accordingly. RESOURCE IMPACT If Council decides to retain the spine of the Roth Building, then a BAO will be prepared immediately requesting an additional $225,000 to supplement the CIP budget so the current project can proceed. If Council decides to demolish the spine, then the existing budget is sufficient and staff will direct SummerHill Homes to prepare final documents, bid and complete the demolition project prior to July 19, 2003. If money remains in the budget at the completion of the project, which is currently projected at approximately $215,000, it will be returned to the Infrastructure Resexwe. CMR: 176:03 Page 4 of 5 POLICY IMPLICATIONS This reconm~endation does not represent any change to existing City policies. ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW The City approved a Final Environmental Impact Report for the Council adoption of the SOFA CAP Phase I and approval of the Development Ageement with PAMF. Both actions included the retention of the historic Roth Building, demolition of the 1947 wings, and development of a two-acre park. The final design, use and rehabilitation of the Roth Building would include a historic analysis for conformance with the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for Rehabilitation of Historic Buildings. ATTACHMENTS Attachment A: Attachment B: Attachment C: Attachment D: Attachment E: Plan of the Roth Building Bryant Street view of the original Roth Building Bryant Street view of the original Roth Building plus the spine Waverley Street view of the original Roth Building Waverley Street view of the original Roth Building plus the spine PREPARED BY: DEPARTMENT HEAD: BOB MORRIS Senior Project Manager GLENN S. ROBERTS Director of Public Works CITY MANAGER APPROVAL:HARRISON Assistant City; Manager Pa~_e 5 of 5 CMR: t 76:03 ~ ATTACHMENT A ATTACHMENT B ATTACHMENT C ATTACHMENT D ATTACHMENT E