Around $1.6 million in redevelopment money has been spent figuring out how to develop San Diego’s Civic Center complex, which houses the city’s main buildings.
The Centre City Development Corp., which has been overseeing the process, released a breakdown in response to questions from City Councilman Carl DeMaio. The biggest expenses were for financial analyst Jones Lang LaSalle and Gensler Architects, which authored a report on the city’s facilities needs.
So far $1.58 million has been spent and another $161,785 has been set aside for contracts but not yet billed, said Jeff Graham, a CCDC vice president. Jones Lang LaSalle is expected to reimburse the agency $100,000 for the costs for a peer review study conducted because of a potential conflict of interest, Graham said. The total cost so far is $1.64 million.
The process has led to a development proposal from Portland-based Gerding Edlen to build a 34-story City Hall along with a mix of retail, office and residential space on the area known as the Civic Center plaza.
At a meeting today in which CCDC’s board voted to recommend the City Council enter into exclusive negotiations with the developer, board member Kim Kilkenny said the money has been well spent.
DeMaio has also requested an accounting of staff time spent on the project, which Graham said the agency is working to produce.