Feature Project
Locals Slated to Develop New Olympia City Hall
With Team Olympia selected as the City of Olympia's choice to build the new City Hall, the local economy will see an added boost over the next three years. Team Olympia is headed up
by The Rants Group and includes Ambia, Berschauer Phillips Construction, AHBL, W&H Pacific, Jeff Glander & Associates,
and Sunset Air.
Collectively these Thurston County firms employ 450 people. During construction, an additional 200 workers - steel workers, carpenters, labors and others - will see work from the project, most of them through local subcontractors.
The new City Hall will bring together many of the city's core departments, now spread out over more than 12 different buildings. The city has been looking at consolidating offices for more than 25 years. Aside from the $425,000 a year that will be saved in leases, typically organizations both public and private will see an increased level of communication and energy when operations are consolidated under one roof.
"The current City Hall is so inefficient it's not a good use of
tax payer money. The City has been trying to address their infrastructure needs for some time and we support this effort to consolidate operations," said Chamber President/CEO
David Schaffert.
Pat Rants, president and CEO of The Rants Group, said in early discussions with the city staff and elected officials there is a good balance between wanting a quality product and wanting to be as cost effective as possible with tax dollars.
Having a local group selected for the project has many benefits. Team Olympia's partners are personally invested in the successful growth and development of the Olympia area and this is where they work, live, and pay taxes. The team's firms have worked together to provide other design-build projects in Olympia including Market Place Office Building, Market Centre Building, and the Lilly Road Medical Office Building. This local experience will serve tax payers well, as the team has a good understanding of City of Olympia government and the community. Team members are familiar with the development process and the people involved, not only in the city but also in the downtown community, the Port, and in neighborhood associations. Team Olympia's knowledge of, experience and commitment to the local community will help get the job done quicker and smoother because they already understand the community, hence no learning curve. The current City Hall will continue to be used for jail and district court services.
Additionally, the Parks Department will continue to reside in the Olympia Center and the Fire Department Headquarters will stay in the Olympia Fire Station. Over approximately the next three years, there will be many steps in the process that will eventually yield a new City Hall. The first items addressed will be site selection and programming, followed by a building and site plan based on the location selected. It is already known the site will be in downtown Olympia, with just a handful of locations in consideration due to limited property availability. One already publicly discussed site is the Port of Olympia's 17 acres of undeveloped land near State Avenue. Tied to that site are other opportunities that may be prompted or accelerated by the City Hall development. These include creation of a new, larger Hands On Children's Museum, a new mixed-use building, a hotel with convention space, and a shared parking garage.
During the development team selection process, Council members and staff expressed the desire to have the new City Hall act as a catalyst for additional downtown development and rehabilitation. Programming, to be done primarily by Ambia, includes studying city operations to determine how much space is really needed. This will be done at the same time as the evaluation of sites. $20 million has already been identified for the project, but the total project cost is not limited to that amount. The City Council will adopt a budget for the project as more information is available. Public involvement will be incorporated throughout the process. Once ground is broken, it will take about 15 months to complete the City Hall project.
Thurston County Chamber Voice
May 2006
Vol. 18, No 5
"The New Olympia City Hall should reflect the unique and distinctive history of the City of Olympia and surrounding community."
- Todd Tovani, Ambia
Completed Team Olympia Projects:
Market Place Office Building
Market Centre Office Building
Lilly Road Medical Office Building