Jan 20th 2023 | Posted in Mary Scott Nabers' Insights, Opportunities by Mary Scott Nabers

The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) passed by Congress in 2022 allocated $1 billion for efficiency upgrades to state and local government buildings. The funding gave public officials new cause to examine the conditions of their public facilities, and many are aggressively capitalizing on the opportunity to use the funding to modernize their facilities.

Support is available for maintenance and renovation projects and also for entirely new campuses and facilities. Most upcoming projects include components to deliver efficiency and sustainability including components such as co-location, adaptive reuse, historical preservation, equity and safety.

The funding process includes other significant benefits such as federal, state, and local tax enrichments which make the projects more attractive to contractors, investors and potential private sector partners. Almost all current federal funding programs encourage matching funds from private sector partners.

A $498 million project in Minnesota, currently in the design phase, describes the planned construction of a new office building that will be located beside the state capitol. The St. Paul facility will receive much of the funding from state coffers.

Courtesy California Department of General Services.

The state of California will also construct a new state capitol annex in Sacramento. The project’s overall cost has been tagged at $756 million. Pre-design work has already started. First opened in 1952, the state’s existing Capitol Annex has deteriorated to the point that it now presents safety risks for state officials. The Joint Rules Committee of the California State Legislature will oversee efforts to rehabilitate, modernize and/or completely reconstruct the existing facility.

A $150 million construction project is almost ready to launch in Virginia’s Fairfax County. Local officials will redevelop 50 acres of county-owned property to support a new multi-disciplinary government facility. Following site preparation, the county will oversee construction of the Reston Town Center. Design of the administrative complex will also include co-location of a human services center. The project’s objective is to strategically locate the two administrative resources side by side for the convenience of residents. Future work on the administrative campus is planned as well.

A new city hall project in Edmond, Okla., currently in the design phase, will carry a $32.6 million price tag. Several municipal departments will be moved out of existing, outdated offices and relocated. The facilities that remain are scheduled for other redevelopment projects. The new city hall complex will include construction of a three-story facility with a combined 65,000 square feet. It will be designed to accommodate city council chambers, a municipal courtroom and departmental office space. Currently, these segments of the city government are spread across four separate buildings in the city’s downtown district.

The city of Roseville, Minn., has launched site work for a new municipal administrative center. Early planning documents forecast a price tag of $42 million to construct the maintenance facility and a license/passport building. Both facilities are to be located on a new civic campus.

A $10 million project in Ferndale, Wash., includes a contract for architectural design of a new civic campus. The project will include construction of several administrative buildings located within a shared, multi-use campus that will also include a municipal court, council chambers, a public gathering venue and additional office space for the community’s social service groups. Federal, state and local funding will be used to deliver the new administrative center which will become a hub for local resources.

Another new civic campus will be constructed in Bondurant, Iowa, and while the overall cost for the project has not been announced, the planned construction phase carries a price tag of $10 million for just the first year. Construction will start in late 2023 on the emergency services building with subsequent phases of construction to follow. The planned campus is needed to meet the city’s future growth projections. Preliminary design documents outline a consolidation of the city’s emergency services and its public works departments.

A Delaware project currently in the assessment stage required collaboration between the U.S. Army and the city of Lewes. The city will use land that once belonged to the federal government for a new municipal complex. Recent passage of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) made it possible for the city to take ownership of the former Cape Henlopen U.S. Army Reserve Center. It will be redeveloped for use as a new municipal campus, as the city’s current municipal building has no more available office space. Ultimately, the proposed municipal campus will also be home to the city hall and a new headquarters for the city’s public works department while also creating additional space for the Lewes Police Department. No cost allocations have been announced since the needs assessment is still underway, but the project will be large.

Projects such as these will provide numerous large opportunities for construction, engineering, technology, landscaping, security, and investment firms in 2023.

As President and CEO of Strategic Partnerships, Inc., Mary Scott Nabers has decades of experience working in the public-private sector. A well-recognized expert in the P3 and government contracting fields, she is often asked to share her industry insights with top publications and through professional speaking engagements.