Del Mar estimates City Hall complex would cost $17.8M

The cost of building a new civic center complex in Del Mar will be about $17.8 million, a slightly higher figure than initially estimated last year, but still within the city’s ability to pay for the project, officials said this week.

Del Mar is proposing to replace its small, outdated City Hall with a new, larger civic center complex that could begin construction as soon as the middle of next year. During Monday’s City Council meeting, the council heard an updated report on the estimated cost of the project.

Last year, consultants for the city provided a rough estimate of about $12.4 million to $16.4 million. Since then, construction cost estimates have gone up and the council has added some features to the project that increased the price, including a kitchen and increased seating capacity.

City council members said the added features were favored by the community during workshops and would make the project better.

“It’s a lot of money for our little city,” said Councilman Dwight Worden. “ (But) the couple of improvements are well worth it and I think it’s what a core part of the community wants out of this project.”

The city plans to pay for the project largely by borrowing.

Assistant City Manager Mark Delin said the city has the capacity to borrow up to $38.2 million based on the city’s finances and credit rating. The city’s Finance Committee recommended borrowing no more than half the $38.2 million, or $19.1 million for the project.

If the city borrows $17 million, its annual payments over 30-years would be about $941,000 at 3.5 percent interest, Delin said. Those payments would be made with money from the general budget. The city could also pay for part of the project, $2 million to $4 million, out of pocket, which would reduce the amount of the loan.

The council voted unanimously to give staff the green light to begin the application process to borrow the money, which should take three to four months to complete. But the exact amount of the loan will be decided and approved later, once construction of the project is sent out to bid and costs are finalized.

Earlier this month, the council approved architectural design for the new Civic Center complex, which will feature a 3,200-square-foot town hall on the southwest corner of the existing City Hall property at 1050 Camino Del Mar.

Behind the town hall, a separate 9,250-square-foot administrative building would house city offices and workers and a 15,000-square-foot civic plaza would provide open space for community activities. The complex would sit on top of an underground, two-level parking garage with about 160 spots, covering the eastern two thirds of the property along Camino Del Mar between Tenth and Eleventh streets.

The Civic Center would have several areas for the public to use, including an entry garden on the northwest corner of the property and an ocean view terrace on the northeast corner. An open air parking area on a western portion of the property could also be used as a farmers market space.

The town hall would connect to the City Hall offices through a breezeway with doors closing between the two buildings. The area could be closed off behind the doors and the back of the town hall opened to expand seating capacity to more than 250 people, or 260 people seated at tables.

If all goes according to plan, demolition of the existing City Hall could begin as early as February.

Construction would likely begin in mid-2016 and could be completed by mid-2017.

Del Mar has been talking for years about how to replace its nearly 60-year-old City Hall. A former schoolhouse built in 1956, the building is about 9,200 square feet, but nearly half of it is limited to storage due to safety concerns.

After a lengthy process trying to find a suitable location for the new civic center, the council decided that the current location was the best. In March, council members voted to allocate $540,000 for design and environmental studies for the complex.

Next, the council is expected to finalize the project’s environmental impact report in January, along with final approval of entitlement documents clearing the way for demolition of the current facilities.