Development Team Meeting Notes (96-99)

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Courthouse Square Ra.ndy has his regular Thursday meeting with the architect and the general contractor tomorrow. ~,, After that meeting, he will be meeting with another one of the architects to meet on intemal space. During the ne~rt month we will be working on laying out internal office space. It wont' be in detail, but will allocate space within each floor for each function based on gross square footage numbers. The purpose of this exercise will be to determine how departments are to be laid out and adjacency requirements, and to also determine budget for Tenant Improvement costs. Randy needs to determine what the cost per square foot would be for improvements to move departments in. I assume we spent less than $30 squa.re foot to move into the Annex. Elyn responded that to date, we have spent about $6 squaze foot. The goal is to make sure $30 or less is an adequate amount to put into the budget. Once its set in the budget, it locks us into that amount. Randy is working on an arrangement if the departments want to exceed the allocated amount and do special things, they pay out of their own budgets. We want to be able to provide a nice, functional office space, but allow them the option of add-ons. ACTION: Dan may be involved in the planning process of internal design as he has the best data on department needs and how to fit departments into their assigned areas. As far as rents on the new space, Randy is working to set the rental rate on the high side early on and then be able to work "downward" to a suitable amount. We don't want to underestimate the rent and then have to come back and renegotiate later. BOC has approved a high end rent ($1.40/sq. ft.), but we hope it will come in lower than this amount. Elyn commented that this is a good strategy to take and will eliminate potential problems of renegotiating down the road. Within the month, we will start scheduling meetings with all the departments regarding space allocated in the new building. This will not be a democratic process, but its intent will be to solicit feedback on where you are located and any adjacency requirements needed. Randy explained a couple options he is working with as far as department placements. One is getting people to think in a three dimensional mode, rather than having support departments on same floor. It could be just as close on the ne}rt floor down or up, which ever the case may be. Another concept that is being researched is having a central reception area and then putting clusters of departments off of that central reception area. Example: Central reception for Human Resources, General Services, Fiscal, and Risk Management. Another combination could be: Central reception with Board of Commissioners, Children & Families, and Legal Counsel. The potential combining of staff could be a very cost effective way to set up departments. Another concern is that the building is overbuilt by 20,000 - 30,000 square feet. Right now there is no one to finance this portion, and nothing is leased. The option is to cut the 20,000 - 30,000 square feet that is putting us over-budget by $1-2 million, unless we can get it leased. Discussions were held about the placement of the Mailroom and Copy Center. The ideal area ~ would be in the service area off of the ground floor . This is prime retail space, and we are looking at locating this function on the second floor near an elevator. Transit has expressed an interested in combining needs with County on these types of services. Richard asked about putting these services in the parking structure area. The current design would not allow this and Page 3