REPORT TO COUNCIL
SUBJECT
Title
Action on an Agreement for Design Professional Services with SmithGroup for Consulting Services Associated with the City of Santa Clara Civic Center Concept Plan and Utility Building Project
Report
BACKGROUND
The Civic Center is the administrative core for the City of Santa Clara and is home for City Hall and several satellite office buildings, landscaped areas, and a public plaza, with on-site and on-street parking to support staff, visitors, and nearby businesses. Two City parks are a short walking distance from City Hall. Most of the buildings in the Civic Center were built in the 1960s when the workforce and residential population were much smaller. As the population of the community has grown, so has the demand for City services and the City's office space needs.
Managing this growth has been challenging and any new attempts to reimagine the office spaces to accommodate more staff and services are now blocked by the confines of the existing building shells. Among the City departments with a large workforce, the Electric Department (dba Silicon Valley Power) (SVP) maintains a fragmented workplace and workforce. For over twenty years, SVP has been leasing office building space and is currently leasing at a business park along Martin Avenue housing SVP's Resources, Customer Service & Marketing divisions, including some of the Capital Projects Engineering personnel while the Administration and Customer Development Engineering services division occupy space in City Hall.
On June 21, 2016, the City Council approved the Capital Improvement Program (CIP) project budget that included appropriations for a new Silicon Valley Power Utility Building. The funds are used to design and prepare for a new utility center using green-building technology that will be capable of housing both the Electric and Water & Sewer Utilities Departments. The benefits of a new utility center include eliminating offsite leases and increasing lease...
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