{SA} SAPD HQ choosen as the site for new federal courthouse

[sirkingwilliam]

http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/met...e.392a9ce.html

SAPD site proposed for new courthouse

Web Posted: 04/02/2008 12:26 AM CDT

Graeme Zielinski
Express-News

The landlord agency for the federal government is expected to announce today its first choice for the site of a new federal courthouse: a downtown parcel of land currently housing the San Antonio Police Department's headquarters.

The General Services Administration is expected to make the announcement at an afternoon news conference. The agency has been looking since 2000 for ways to accommodate the space and security pressures at the current courthouse on Durango Boulevard, the circular building in the HemisFair campus named for slain U.S. District Judge John H. Wood Jr.

The development of the SAPD land — 7 acres at Nueva and Santa Rosa streets — which has been pushed hard by city officials, still would have several hoops to clear, including a land-swap agreement between the GSA and the city and the city's approval of funding, siting and development for a new police headquarters.

Although there is no firm price tag on the plan, a new police headquarters alone could cost taxpayers $100 million.

The ambitious plan with its many parts was being promoted by the city as a way to develop the Santa Rosa Street corridor and breathe new life into the revitalization of HemisFair Park.

With approval for all this not yet certain, the GSA is expected to keep on the back burner an alternative site, next to the current cramped courthouse, a retrofitted theater once hailed as the "building of tomorrow."

The established timeline for completion of the new 368,000-square-foot federal courthouse is 2012.

Last spring, the GSA announced the three finalist sites, whittled from 18, which also included a site on the river at Dwyer Avenue and Durango Boulevard that was eliminated from consideration. That site was never seriously in the mix after it was met with fierce opposition by residents in the neighborhood and even by the federal judges here.

City officials and the GSA weren't commenting on the new courthouse deal or its prospects pending today's news conference with Scott Armey, the agency's regional administrator.

Pat DiGiovanni, the deputy city manager who has been the city's point man on the project, said in a statement Tuesday only, "We are awaiting the announcement by the GSA on its selection and we are hopeful that we will be selected."

U.S. District Judge Xavier Rodriguez, who confirmed the GSA's site selection and served as the point person for the Western District's four federal judges, said that the growth of the region has resulted in a corresponding growth in the federal docket, meaning the need for lots more space.

And that's not to mention the post-Sept. 11, 2001, security issues at the current site, the 70-foot-tall structure that served as the Confluence Theater for the 1968 HemisFair.

"I think everyone here in the city of San Antonio knows, on a daily basis, how much the city has grown," Rodriguez said.

He said that, with parking also a major concern, the SAPD site, "gives us the space that we need and then it hopefully will allow us to be a good citizen and allow the city to redevelop HemisFair Park."

In a presentation at a public hearing in November, DiGiovanni presented details of the city's pitch, which included a $100 million price tag for a new police headquarters; a land swap with the federal government; the possibility of the construction of a new parking lot; and the preparation of the current site, which could mean razing the old police headquarters.

[The Nano]

Hahah well yah! The Feds better raze that nasty thing. I remember seeing it in the 1959 SAPD annual police report at the Texana Archives not too long ago. It had a bunch of fancy pictures, with a very proud statement about it. Im guessing it was finished that year......

[SAguy]

Sounds like two old buildings will be replace with two new ones.

[sakyle04]

The established timeline for completion of the new 368,000-square-foot federal courthouse is 2012.

I think we're all waiting on Kevin to weigh in...

How tall of a structure could we be looking at for 368,000 ft2?

[oldmanshirt]

Well, if the floor plans are 15k sq feet per floor (which seems generous), then we're easily looking at a 20 story building.

That sound right?

[ydoc14]

Somebody correct me if I'm wrong, but I think Bank of America Plaza is 350,000 sq. ft

[oldmanshirt]

How many floors is BoA Plaza, 34?

[ydoc14]

Originally Posted by oldmanshirt

How many floors is BoA Plaza, 34?

28

[KevinFromTexas]

^ Not sure how tall the courthouse could be. With 7 acres of land, that could make it spread out. I would hope it would go up and not out though. 368,000 square feet on say, one acre would definitely be a considerably tall highrise. With a regular office building at that square footage, and on ~one acre of land, I'd say it could be around 300 feet tall. However, because this is a courthouse, it could be even taller. I've read that courthouse highrises tend to have very high ceilings and high spaces between each floor. Up to 19 feet from floor-to-floor. For instance, the federal courthouse that is being planned in Austin was said to only have 7 floors, yet it's rumored to be 135 feet tall. The building would have around 192,000 square feet. Of course that project seems to be more fluid, since there were having issues with getting funding from the feds.

Also since 9/11, a new law was created to protect new federal buildings. It says that any new federal building has to be set back 50 feet from any street that borders the block it stands on. This would push the building even taller since it would decrease the amount of land on the block they could build on. In fact, the courthouse plan in Austin calls for permanently closing a bordering street along that block to give them the room they need.

The courthouse in San Antonio has 7 acres of land at its disposal, but I think that's on two separate blocks, is it not? If so, then that really only makes one of them useful, unless they closed the street between them and conjoined both blocks as one. Either way you slice it, I would expect a highrise with this. Conservatively, I'd say it'll be 200 feet tall.

Does anyone know the exact boundary lines of these 7 acres of the SAPD campus? Can someone draw a map and post it showing the boundaries?

[sakyle04]

Originally Posted by KevinFromTexas

^ Not sure how tall the courthouse could be. With 7 acres of land, that could make it spread out. I would hope it would go up and not out though. 368,000 square feet on say, one acre would definitely be a considerably tall highrise. With a regular office building at that square footage, and on ~one acre of land, I'd say it could be around 300 feet tall. However, because this is a courthouse, it could be even taller. I've read that courthouse highrises tend to have very high ceilings and high spaces between each floor. Up to 19 feet from floor-to-floor. For instance, the federal courthouse that is being planned in Austin was said to only have 7 floors, yet it's rumored to be 135 feet tall. The building would have around 192,000 square feet. Of course that project seems to be more fluid, since there were having issues with getting funding from the feds.

Also since 9/11, a new law was created to protect new federal buildings. It says that any new federal building has to be set back 50 feet from any street that borders the block it stands on. This would push the building even taller since it would decrease the amount of land on the block they could build on. In fact, the courthouse plan in Austin calls for permanently closing a bordering street along that block to give them the room they need.

The courthouse in San Antonio has 7 acres of land at its disposal, but I think that's on two separate blocks, is it not? If so, then that really only makes one of them useful, unless they closed the street between them and conjoined both blocks as one. Either way you slice it, I would expect a highrise with this. Conservatively, I'd say it'll be 200 feet tall.

Does anyone know the exact boundary lines of these 7 acres of the SAPD campus? Can someone draw a map and post it showing the boundaries?

- knew we could count on Kevin!!!

- gotta love the courthouse!!!

[SAguy]

There's a map on mysa.com

http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/met...e.392a9ce.html

[KevinFromTexas]

That doesn't really show the exact boundary, but I'd guess they're talking more about the northern block, (the one that doesn't have the tv tower on it).

This block measures roughly 420 feet north to south by 530 feet east to west. With the new federal law about federal building safety and saying that buildings must sit at least 50 feet from the street. First, I would expect South Laredo Street to be closed permanently, and the building may even stand where that street is now. The block is also surrounded on three sides by streets. So north to south that would chop out 100 feet of the block. And to the west it would take out 50 feet. So that would reduce its size considerably, increasing the need for a taller design. That coupled with the fact that courthouses typically have high floor to floor heights, it could be fairly tall. We'll see. I would expect it to be at least 200 feet tall, but it wouldn't surprise me if it's 300 feet or more. Also there are no height issues around there since the Riverwalk isn't nearby. Correct? There is a canal near there, but I don't think it's actually part of the "Riverwalk".

[ryan5021]

Would the 50 ft. barrier apply to a parking garage?

[KevinFromTexas]

I'm not sure about that actually. The article about the one in Austin never mentioned the law being applied to a connected garage. Then again, the one in Austin didn't have a parking garage attached. Or if it does have one, it's below ground. I'm not sure if having a garage attached is allowed anymore under this new law. Not sure about that part.

[Targus]

[alexjon]

They will use the original footprint and push the building to a sound 300 feet or so as they've done in cities like Seattle and Portland.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_O....tes_Courthouse Portland

http://www.emporis.com/en/wm/bu/?id=...seattle-wa-usa Seattle

[sirkingwilliam]

Last year the city passed a bond for 100 million dollars for a new Police HQ. The city also wants to build a structure that will be home to not only the Police HQ but also the Fire fighters HQ. Which is planned to be built within the next two years.

[Schertz1]

Hopefully it will be similar to the Harris County Criminal Justice Center.


http://www.emporis.com/en/wm/cx/?id=...omplex-houston


The police HQ here is pretty tall too.

[sirkingwilliam]

http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/met...e.3c16a64.html

Federal courthouse put on fast track

Web Posted: 04/02/2008 11:48 PM CDT

Graeme Zielinski
Express-News

Federal and city officials Wednesday announced admittedly ambitious plans: Erect a new $100 million San Antonio police and fire headquarters by 2010 on newly acquired land, raze the existing police headquarters shortly thereafter, and have a new U.S. courthouse up and running on the former police property by 2012.

"It's all subject to change," of course, said Scott Armey, the regional administrator for the federal landlord agency, the General Services Administration (GSA), acknowledging the vagaries of big-ticket building projects.

Wednesday's announcement that the GSA had picked the seven acres on Nueva Street that now houses SAPD headquarters as its preferred place to build a new federal courthouse was a major step forward in an effort that has languished.

"It's been a long process to get to this point," Armey said at a news conference on the steps of the current federal courthouse on Durango Boulevard, noting a search that began around 2000 and was interrupted by a three-year moratorium on new courthouse projects.

"It's ambitious," said Deputy City Manager Pat DiGiovanni of the accelerated timeline.

Armey said he hoped to have a deal inked with the city within six months — DiGiovanni said it could come even sooner.

The package meets several corresponding pressures, including overcrowding at the federal courthouse, what Police Chief William McManus called a technologically "antiquated" police headquarters and the desire by the city to revitalize both the west side of downtown and bring people back to HemisFair Park.

The money already appropriated for the federal courthouse won't even account for design plans, so it will be some time until the new look is known for either of the new buildings.

It is unclear where the city will get the funds for the new police and fire headquarters.

U.S. District Judge Xavier Rodriguez, the judiciary's point man for the project, said aesthetics would be a factor.

"The federal courthouse in every city ... is the predominant physical presence of the U.S. government," he said, and the new building should reflect that, San Antonio's Mexican and Spanish heritage, as well as a sense of the "majesty of the law."

DiGiovanni said the city had reached a tentative agreement on buying new land for the new "public safety campus," though nothing had been finalized. He declined to comment on reports that it would be on the former site of a K-Mart on South Santa Rosa, though he did say it would be downtown.

Rodriguez, a San Antonio native who remembered coming to the courthouse in its previous incarnation as a child, said he did not know whether the new courthouse would also bear the name of slain U.S. District Judge John H. Wood Jr., noting that power was reserved for Congress.

"It will not be called the Judge Rodriguez Courthouse," he allowed.

[alexjon]

Oh man, I miss that K-Mart!