July 9, 2010
Three years after the West End disposition was rescinded, the details of a new deal for the West End Library are being examined.
Update: Legislation authorizing the sale of the West End parcels to EastBanc was passed on July 13 at the final Council session before summer recess.
According to the budget submitted to the DC Council Committee on Economic Development, developer EastBanc proposes to charge the city $10 million for a new West End library. The deal has been structured so that EastBanc is purchasing the air rights to the existing library property from the city along with other property and air rights nearby, and the cost of constructing a new library will be deducted from the price EastBanc pays the city.
Under this proposal, DC Public Library will receive none of the benefits that make a publicprivate partnership worthwhile. The economies of scale that should be achieved from the library being incorporated into a larger project are simply not there. Based on what DC is currently paying to construct new libraries, $10 million would be a highly inflated amount for delivery of a single story library that is part of a much bigger building that could not be built without it.
Putting aside all the concerns surrounding the sale of public property and looking at this deal strictly from a financial perspective, it appears to be a $10 million rip-off. I suggest that EastBanc build us a library for free and forgo its unmerited $10 million fee. Heres why.
1 Plus 1 Doesnt Equal 3
In April, DCPL opened two brand new, freestanding, 22,000 square foot, two-story libraries: one for $12.6 million in Anacostia and one for $12 million in Benning. A three-level library in Shaw, opening in August, is costing taxpayers $14.8 million. Three years ago, it cost neighboring Baltimore only $4 million to build a freestanding 15,000 square foot library with a three-story, atrium-like reading room.
When they asked why libraries in Baltimore cost so much less, citizens were told by DCPL that freestanding multi-level buildings require stronger foundations, roofs, and structural steel the most costly construction elements, as well as other expensive components like elevators, stairwells, and fire doors that a one story library would not. Looking at these examples, it would seem that a one floor library as part of a bigger structure costs approximately $2 million. Why then is there no significant reduction in cost to the city for building a 20,000 square foot open space on one level as part of a larger development in the West End?
I would go further still and suggest that the library should be given to DC at no charge. In order to build its luxury condo building over and around the library, EastBanc will provide DCPL with a basic box. And if the library werent in that location, EastBanc would have to find another sort of retail establishment in its place. In fact, EastBanc needs the library to fill out its first floor retail and generate sidewalk traffic. It doesnt have a great track record of attracting retail to its other mixed-use building in the West End, the Ritz Carlton. Most West End residents Ive consulted have only come around to the idea of giving up their public land because they believe density is necessary for street life.
Gold-Plated Bookends
It was explained to me that finishes30% it turns outare a big part of the cost of the proposed West End Library. I can see why EastBanc might want to donate fancy finishes to the library to ensure it matched the quality of the rest of the project, especially on the exterior. But we should not be charged for it, because we would never incur similar expenses for any other branch library, and we have not incurred similar expenses for the new concrete and glass libraries at Anacostia, Benning, and the soon-to-open Shaw and Tenleytown branches. The beneficiary of expensive finishes, in addition to high-end architectural design fees, is EastBanc, not the library or DC taxpayers.
The Takoma Park Librarya historic Carnegie building with real demands for specialized finishes that were hard to reconstruct was renovated and restored for less than $2 million. $2 million for a new library in the West End would be closer to a real deal for DC.
Over the last three years since the original West End debacle, the library systems operating hours have been cut to the bone even as library construction booms. The $8 million difference between what EastBanc is offering and what a new library should cost would be enough to restore full operating hours to the entire system for the next four years.
Robin Diener
Director
Library Renaissance Project
1530 P Street, NW
Washington, DC 20005
202 431-9254 (cell)
202 387- 8030
COMPARABLES
Anacostia $12.6 Million: 22,000 square feet on two levels; demolition of old library on same site; seating for 200; 5 individual study rooms; 2 meetings rooms for 12-14; one meeting room for 100; bio-retention pond; 21 car surface parking lot; exterior plaza; landscaping. Completed April 2010.
Benning $12 Million: 22,000 square feet on two levels; demolition of old library on same site seating for 200; individual study rooms; 2 meeting rooms for 12-14; one meeting room for 100; vegetative green roof; 14 car surface parking lot; exterior plaza; landscaping. Completed April 2010
Takoma Park $1.95 Million: Restoration of historic one story Renaissance Revival-style brick building; restored woodwork, improved lighting, upgraded electrical and data systems; custom-built furniture based on the original drawings; redesign of layout based on original drawings; environmentally sustainable cork floors and refurbished exterior masonry and metalwork. Completed March 2009
Orleans Street Branch/Baltimore $4 Million: 15,000 square feet; computer training classroom; slate lobby; security station; one meeting room for 10-12 with screening system; meeting room for 100; three story (in volume) atrium style reading room; bio-retention pond; surface parking lot. Completed 2008.
Northborough, Mass $6 Million: 20,800 square feet; expansion and restoration of 1900s Richardsonian granite building; copper bays to complement original copper trim. Completed
Shaw $14.5 Million: This is the most expensive of the new DC Libraries to date but it is the only library on three levels -- an unavoidable constraint of its small triangular site. 22,000 square feet, demolition of old library on same site, reconfigured foundation1, elevators, stairwells, structural steel to support the three story structure as well as a vegetative green roof. Initially, DCPL maintained it would be cost prohibitive to construct a building strong enough to support a green roof. DCPL later pursued and received a federal grant to help pay for additional structural support.
Comparison of new Shaw Library and proposed new West End Library Budgets
BUDGET for publicly funded new Shaw Library
Demolition
$352,238
Design
$1,266,651
Project Management
$1,324,126
Construction
$9,545,000
Furniture & Equipment
$1,000,000
Contingency
$1,000,000
TOTAL
$14,488,015
Above figures from DCPL website
BUDGET for new West End Library in public-private partnership with EastBanc [pdf here]
Demolition
???
Design
$500,000
Project Management
$1,022,000
General conditions and fee: $269,000
Developer Overhead 5.00% $429,000
Testing / Inspections / Quality Control $60,000
Permits / Fees / Bonds $80,000
Legal $100,000
G&A / Accounting $25,000
Marketing $5,000
Insurance 10,000
Builders risk insurance: $6,000
General liability insurance: $18,000
Taxes 0.00%
Finance Fees / Costs / Recordation Fees $10,000
Exclusions $10,000
Construction
$7,098,273
Structure:
$541,000
Exterior skin envelope:
$1,473,000
General building finishes:
$104,000
Mechanical system:
$312,000
Electrical system:
$166,000
Sitework allocation:
$149,000
Parking allocation:
$553,273
FF&E / Landscaping
$1,000,000
Leasing / TI's
$2,800,000
Furniture & Equipment
???
Contingency
$637,614
Soft Costs Contingency 5.00%
$252,000
Hard Costs Contingency 5.00%
$329,614
Pricing contingency
$56,000
TOTAL
$9,257,887
Above figures based on numbers supplied by EastBanc to the DC Council Committee on Economic Development, reproduced below.
Library Budget: Square Feet 20,189 Skin, SF 12,804
Land Costs Cost $/ FAR SF $/Unitf Total Costs
Land Value ‐ ‐ 0.00%
Land Acquisition Costs ‐ ‐ 0.00%
‐ ‐ 0.00%
Hard Costs
Building Excavation ‐ 0.00%
Support of Excavation ‐ 0.00%
Structure 541,000 26.80 5.84%
Exterior Skin Envelope 1,473,000 72.96 115.04 15.91%
Exterior Skin Envelope Premium ‐ 0.00%
Roofing and Waterproofing 0.00%
General Building Finishes 104,000 5.15 1.12%
Special Equipment 0.00%
Vertical Transportation ‐ 0.00%
Mechanical System 312,000 15.45 3.37%
Electrical System 166,000 8.22 1.79%
Residential Unit Finishes 0.00%
Residential Unit Equipment 0.00%
Residential Appliance Package, Cabinets Premium 0.00%
Other 0.00%
Builder's Risk Insurance 6,000 0.30 0.06%
General Liability Insurance 18,000 0.89 0.19%
Pricing Contingency 56,000 2.77 0.60%
General Conditions & Fee 269,000 13.32 2.91%
Subtotal( Clark Estimate) 2 ,945,000 145.87 31.81%
Sitework Allocation 149,000 7.38 1.61%
Parking Allocation 12 spaces 553,273 27.40 46,106 5.98%
Hard Costs Contingency 5.00% 329,614 16.33 3.56%
0.00%
Total Hard Costs 3,976,887 196.98 42.96%
Soft
Costs A&
E / Design / Consultants 500,000 24.77 5.40%
Permits / Fees / Bonds 80,000 3.96 0.86%
Testing / Inspections / Quality Control 60,000 2.97 0.65%
Legal 100,000 4.95 1.08%
Marketing 5,000 0.25 0.05%
Leasing / TI's 2,800,000 138.69 30.24%
FF&E / Landscaping 1,000,000 49.53 10.80%
Taxes 0.00%
Insurance 10,000 0.50 0.11%
Finance Fees / Costs / Recordation Fees 10,000 0.50 0.11%
Exclusions 10,000 0.50 0.11%
G&A / Accounting 25,000 1.24 0.27%
Developer Overhead 5.00% 429,000 21.25 4.63%
Construction & Post Construction Period Interest Reserve ‐ 0.00%
Operation to Break Even Reserve ‐ 0.00%
Soft Costs Contingency 5.00% 252,000 12.48 2.72%
0.00%
Total Soft Costs 5,281,000 261.58 57.04%
261.58
TOTAL SUBPROJECT COSTS 9 ,257,887 458.56 100.00
LIBRARY
DYNAMOS