Sacramento—State and Consumer Services Secretary Joanne Kozberg today announced that Johnson Fain Partners of Los Angeles has been selected as the master architect for the East End Project, a state office development immediately east of Capitol Park in downtown Sacramento. The project will consolidate the operations of three state agencies scattered over more than 30 locations in the Sacramento area.

 

“Johnson Fain Partners is one of the most creative and successful architectural firms in the country today,” said Kozberg. “Their selection takes us one step closer to our goal of creating value for taxpayers and improving the neighborhood around Capitol Park.”

 

Kozberg’s comments came in a Capitol news conference attended by state Sen. Patrick Johnston (D-Sacramento/Stockton), Assemblymember Deborah Ortiz (D-Sacramento), John Hodgson, president of the Capitol Area Development Authority (CADA), and officials of the Department of General Services (DGS).

 

Nine different teams of eminent architects from throughout the country were interviewed by a selection panel composed of representatives from the State and Consumer Services Agency, the Department of General Services (DGS), the Urban Land Institute (ULI), and the Capitol Area Development Authority. A ULI study conducted in 1995 that analyzed the state’s real estate needs in downtown Sacramento was instrumental in creating the East End Project.

 

The East End Project call for 1.5 million square feet of office space spread over five office buildings, with room for 1,564 parking spaces. The area to be developed is bound by 15th and 17th streets, between L and N streets, 14th and 15th streets between N and O streets. In addition, a 720-car parking structure will be built on an open lot along P Street between 13th and 14th streets.

 

DGS estimates that construction of the East End Project will save $200 million over the cost of leasing comparable office space over the next 30 years. Construction will begin next year and finish in 2003. The project is budgeted at up to $392 million. “We are committed to bringing this project in on time and under budget,” said DGS Director Peter Stamison. “California’s capital city deserves nothing less.”

 

Johnson Fain Partners have more than 65 years of professional experience as an architectural, interior design, and planning firm , and have earned more than 70 awards for design excellence.

 

This project is an historic opportunity to complete the State Capitol planning efforts of the last 100 years,” said Scott Johnson, design director of Johnson Fain Partners.

 

Last year, Gov. Pete Wilson signed SB 1270 by Sen. Johnston authorizing construction of the East End Project. The bill requires DGS to submit the architect’s design, performance criteria, and economic analysis of the project to the legislature by December 1, 1998. The project conforms with the goals of the Capitol Area Plan, the direction provided by the legislature, the Governor’s Executive Order W-18-91 related to state asset-management, and the findings of the Urban Land Institute (ULI) in 1995.

 

The office complex will house the Department of Education, other education related agencies, the Department of Health Services, and DGS. Construction of the 720-car parking structure on P Street will begin late this year, with construction of the office buildings starting as early as mid-1999. Construction of the East End Project will be managed by DGS.