Pinellas County leaders pick design firm for new government center
Pinellas County leaders took one of the first steps towards creating their new government center by recently picking a design firm.
"This is going to be a kickoff of our new campus," County Administrator Barry Burton said at a recent meeting. "This is huge."
County commissioners unanimously approved the firm HOK at the July 22 meeting.
It has 26 offices worldwide, including in Tampa. The contract with Pinellas County is for about $21.6 million.
"The team working on this project, designing this project, is a local Tampa Bay area team," Jonathan Rae, Senior Principal at HOK, said.
Dig deeper:
Most of the county’s current buildings were built in the 1960s and 1970s, and are spread out across the area. Officials say repairs and upkeep would cost more in the long run compared to moving to a new space.
In 2023, commissioners approved buying the 21-acre ICOT Center Business Park off of Ulmerton Road for about $33 million. County leaders and their real estate consultant, CBRE, say the site is central and will house everything under one roof.
"We have a lot of work to do engaging each one of you and getting these ideas and thoughts will be part of this process," Burton said to the commissioners at the meeting on July 22. "You will have opportunities to have that type of input. We're going to be looking at the configuration of offices, where your office is in location to the public meeting space, workspace, all those types of things," he said.
Departments will be consolidated into three buildings that include administration, a courthouse and a development services building.
What they're saying:
"Just for my input, looking at a lot of the designs of courthouses you guys have done, it seems like they're just a lot of like glass, and so for my input that I've kind of been saying all long is I'd like to see classical architecture that's more timeless, and I think can be modern and energy efficient on the inside," Commissioner Vine Nowicki said. "You guys are good. That’s just my two cents," he said.
There will also be a parking garage and parking lots.
"We'll definitely, in our kickoff visioning sessions, want to talk with all of the stakeholders about what do we envision this new campus to look like," Kristine Bishop Johnson, Principal in Charge at HOK, said. "We pride ourselves on being able to produce buildings that are contextually appropriate to their communities," she said.
What's next:
CBRE estimates construction could cost between $263-$333 million.
The Source: FOX 13 reporter Kailey Tracy gathered the information for this story.