Primary Department: County Engineer
Primary Department Head/Elected Official: Dr. Milton Rahman, PhD, P.E., PMP, CFM, ENV-SP
Managing Department: County Engineer
Managing Department Head/Elected Official: Dr. Milton Rahman, PhD, P.E., PMP, CFM, ENV-SP
Regular or Supplemental RCA: Regular RCA
Type of Request: Investment Memo
Investment Memo Type: Final Investment Memo
Project Name: 6000 Chimney Rock Demo and Rebuild
Project ID (if applicable): TBD
Vendor Legal Name (if applicable): N/A
MWBE Contracted Goal (if applicable): N/A
MWBE Current Achievement (if applicable): N/A
Justification for 0% MWDBE Participation Goal: N/A - Goal not applicable to request
Grant Indirect Costs Rate (if applicable): N/A
Justification for 0% Grant Indirect Costs Rate (if applicable): N/A - Not a grant item
Incremental Authorization Requested: $30,349,000
Total Estimated Project Cost: $30,349,000
Request Summary:
title
Request for approval of the Final Investment Memo for the 6000 Chimney Rock Demo and Rebuild project for an authorization of $30,349,000 and approval of initial commercial paper funding in the amount of $2,000,000.
end
Project Description:
6000 Chimney Rock (Annex 19 at Burnett Bayland Park) serves a primary location for providing tax services for the Harris County residents, and the workspace for the Harris County Clerk's Office, the Harris County Sheriff's Office (HCSO), Harris County Constable Precinct 5, and Harris County Justice of the Peace Services. The facility was constructed in approximately 1988 and needs significant upgrades to meet current codes, which is best accomplished through demolition and rebuild. This project will relocate the current operations to temporary facilities, demolish the old building and infrastructure, construct new code-compliant facilities and infrastructure to ensure continued support services for the residents of Harris County.
This project will significantly and directly improve operating conditions of the county facilities, security and safety of the detention facility, HCSO and Constable office ability to ensure safety. It will also increase building efficiency to modern standards and provide significant opportunities to MWBE vendors through all phases of the project.
Anticipated Project Expenditures and Timeline:
|
Project Scope Breakdown |
Estimated Cost |
Estimated Completion |
|
Design |
$1,960K |
FY 2025 |
|
Demolition |
$986K |
FY 2025 |
|
Construction |
$18,781K |
FY 2028 |
|
Lease Space - Base Rent |
$500K |
FY 2028 |
|
Lease Space - Developer Markup Renovate Court Annex |
$3,500K |
FY 2028 |
|
Lease Space - Design |
$500K |
FY 2028 |
|
Lease Space - Escalation/Inflation |
$876K |
FY 2028 |
|
Relocation to and from Lease Space |
$170K |
FY 2028 |
|
Contingency |
$3,076K |
|
|
Total |
$30,349K |
|
Note: Anticipated Inflation is calculated into construction fees above.
Justification & Alternatives:
6000 Chimney Rock (Annex 19 at Burnett Bayland Park) has significant fire safety, floodplain elevation, structural, roofing, plumbing, electrical, building envelope, ADA, holding cell compliance and tenant capacity deficiencies that will require either demo and reconstruction, or extensive renovations within the next 1-5 years to bring facility to current standards.
Based upon the Harris County Engineering Department’s 2024 Assessment the renovations necessary to bring the facility up to current codes and standards are estimated at $37.2M. This is significantly higher than the cost of demolishing and rebuilding the facility, estimated at $30.3M. Assessment is summarized below:
- Fire Safety: There is no fire protection ‘sprinkler’ system within the facility; the alarm system monitoring panel is significantly old. This is a major safety concern for the building.
- Floodplain: The facility will need to be elevated approximately 1.5’ to meet COH and FEMA requirements for critical facilities, as well as to get permitting for the major upgrades.
- Structural: The facility shows clear signs of sinkholes and ground swell under the slab in multiple locations. This will require a full relevelling of the facility.
- Building Envelope: Moisture penetrations, as well as leaning, bowing and cracking brick façade will require extensive building envelope and structural work.
- Plumbing: The entire plumbing system is showing symptoms of major failures and substructure cracks/leaks, causing smells in all restrooms and sewage flow problems.
- Detention Facilities ‘Holding Cell’: The detention facilities are significantly dated, out of code, and present significant risks to inmates and security staff.
- Electrical: The building electrical is very old, poorly planned, and in need of significant upgrades to meet current codes and standards.
- Temporary Relocation: Due the foundation, floodplain, and significant number of upgrades needed the facility it will need to be vacated, and services relocated to temporary location.
An alternative would be a significantly more expensive renovation project, which is estimated to cost an additional $7 million more than the proposed option. Not funding would mean unsafe conditions and emergency building closure risks due to deficiencies would remain.
Anticipated Impact on Other Funds (If Applicable):
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Fund Code |
Description |
Estimated Cost |
Funding Method (Existing or Future Budget Request Required) |
Estimated Date of Needs |
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$- |
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- |
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$- |
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- |
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Total |
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$- |
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- |
County Strategic Plan Goal: 1. Make Harris County safer and more just.
County Strategic Plan Objective: R: Enhance disaster preparedness, response, recovery, and resiliency.
Justice/Safety Initiative (Goal 1): C1: Support the Jail and Community Safety Infrastructure Governance Advisory Committee’s and Resident Advisory Committee’s efforts to increase non-carceral options and improve safety, security, and other conditions in jail facilities.
Infrastructure Initiative (Goal 2): N/A
Economy Initiative (Goal 3): J3: Strengthen enabling support and processes for MWBE programming.
Health Initiative (Goal 4): N/A
Climate/Resilience Initiative (Goal 5): T2: Make County buildings more energy efficient.
Housing Initiative (Goal 6): N/A
Decision Analysis Matrix Score (rubric on last page): 14
Previous Court Action:
|
Date |
Agenda Item # |
Action Taken |
|
11/12/2021 |
21-6309 |
Approved: Request by Justice of the Peace, Precinct 5, Place 1 for approval of the Final Investment Memo for the JP 5-1 courtroom remodeling and security update project for $280,993 and initial commercial paper funding for the Office of the County Engineer (FPM) for the project in the amount of $285,000. |
|
12/13/2022 |
22-7751 |
Approved: Request for approval of a Final Investment Memo for the Annex Facilities Security Upgrades Countywide project (continuous) for an additional incremental authorization of $4,172,000 for a total FY23 authorization of $5,910,000 Annex 19 - Southwest Annex - 6000 Chimney Rock, JP 5-1 Ballistic material installation (rollover project) $165k Annex 19 - Southwest Annex - 6000 Chimney Rock, JP 5-1 Remodel back wall of courtroom and raise bench (rollover project) ($105K) |
|
8/29/2023 |
23-4874 |
Approved: Request for approval of a Final Investment Memo for the Plumbing Systems Repair and Replacement Countywide project for an additional $516,000 for a total FY24 authorization of $2,683,000. Annex 19 - Southwest Annex - 6000 Chimney Rock, - Install underground plumbing in New Buildout Area ($150K) |
|
8/29/2023 |
23-4876 |
Request for approval of a Final Investment Memo for the Control Systems Repair and Replacement Countywide project for a total FY23 & FY24 authorization of $1,567,000. Annex 19 - Southwest Annex - 6000 Chimney Rock, - Unified Controls - upgrade programming, graphics, and Controllers ($35k) |
Address: 6000 Chimney Rock Rd, Houston, TX 77081
Precinct(s): Precinct 4
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Fiscal and Personnel Summary |
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Service Name |
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Current Fiscal Year Cost |
Annual Fiscal Cost |
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Labor |
Non-Labor |
Total |
Recurring Expenses |
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Funding Sources |
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Existing Budget |
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Choose an item. |
$ |
$ |
$ |
$ |
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$ |
$ |
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$ |
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$ |
$ |
$ |
$ |
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Total Current Budget |
$ |
$ |
$ |
$ |
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Additional Budget Request |
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Commercial Paper |
$ |
$2,000,000 |
$2,000,000 |
$ |
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Choose an item. |
$ |
$ |
$ |
$ |
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$ |
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Total Additional Budget Request |
$ |
$2,000,000 |
$2,000,000 |
$ |
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Total Funding Request |
$ |
$2,000,000 |
$2,000,000 |
$ |
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Personnel (Fill out section only if requesting new PCNs) |
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Current Position Count for Service |
- |
- |
- |
- |
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Additional Positions Request |
- |
- |
- |
- |
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Total Personnel |
- |
- |
- |
- |
Anticipated Court Date: 3/27/2025
Anticipated Implementation Date (if different from Court date): Click or tap to enter a date.
Emergency/Disaster Recovery Note: Not an emergency, disaster, or COVID-19 related item
Legal funding compliance confirmed by: Paige Abernathy, Assistant County Attorney, 2/24/2025
Department Approval by: Ross Hosket, P.E., CFM, ENV-SP, Director - Building Operations Services, Office of the County Engineer
OMB CIP Team Approval by: William McGuinness, Director-Capital Projects & Infrastructure, 3/11/25
________________________________________
Commercial Paper Request (For OMB use only):
Receiving Department: County Engineer
Project PeopleSoft ID: TBD
CP Series Description: Commercial Paper Series D-2 can be used for (1) construction of public works, (2) the purchase of automobiles, equipment and machinery, including computers, materials and supplies for the operation of the County’s precincts and departments (3) Professional services, including services provided by engineers, architects, attorneys, auditors, financial advisors, and fiscal agents, in connection with the contractual obligations described in (1) and (2).
Commercial Paper is being requested for the 6000 Chimney Rock Demo and Rebuild project and is expected to be repaid within the next three fiscal years either through bonds, budgetary means or pay-as-you-go sources.
OMB Financial Management contact: Amy Perez, Deputy Executive Director, Office of Management and Budget
Decision Analysis Matrix scoring tool - Commissioners Court has approved the rubric below for scoring capital projects. Please complete the last two rows for OMB review.
|
Scoring option |
Strategic Plan alignment (3x weighting) |
Evidence base |
Impact on outcomes |
Cost effectiveness |
Ease of implementation |
Collaboration / partnerships |
Environmental sustainability |
Equity |
Total |
|
-1 |
Antithetical to one or more aspects of the Strategic Plan |
Evidence shows net negative impact on the intended goal |
Impact is clearly negative |
Costs expected (or shown) to outweigh benefits |
County has no/limited existing capabilities and dependencies are likely to impede |
Could negatively impact relationships with partners |
Negatively impacts environment and/or climate change mitigation efforts |
Inequitable |
n/a |
|
0 |
Does not align to a Strategic Objective |
Evidence base is not well defined or measurable |
Size of impact on one or more strategic outcomes is negligible or unclear |
Net comparison is unclear |
County has no/limited existing capabilities or dependencies are likely to impede |
Does not involve collaboration with partners |
Net neutral impact on environment and/or climate change mitigation efforts |
Does not consider equity to a meaningful degree |
n/a |
|
1 |
Aligns to a Strategic Objective but not to a Strategic Initiative |
Limited evidence-based research on outcomes; may have qualitative/theoretical support |
Outcomes are defined but without target levels and/or expected impact is moderate |
Moderate direct/indirect benefit relative to costs |
County has existing capability to implement or dependencies are unlikely to impede |
Moderately expands County leverage through collaboration with partner(s) |
Marginally positive impact on environment and/or climate change mitigation efforts |
Considers equity to a meaningful degree, but not comprehensively |
n/a |
|
2 |
Aligns to a Strategic Objective and a Strategic Initiative |
Outcomes are directly supported by evidence base or credible research supports anticipated outcomes |
Outcomes are clearly defined and include target levels; expected impact on outcomes is high |
Significant direct/indirect benefit relative to costs |
County has existing capability to implement and dependencies are unlikely to impede |
Significantly expands County leverage through collaboration with partner(s) |
Positively impacts environment and/or climate change mitigation efforts |
Considers equity meaningfully and comprehensively |
n/a |
|
Score (-1,0,1,2) |
6 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
0 |
2 |
1 |
14 |
|
Rationale |
Objective: Strengthen enabling support and processes for MWBE programming. Through significant increased opportunities and work with MWBE firms. T2: Make County buildings more energy efficient. Through modernization, LED Lighting and HVAC controls |
Per Climate/Resilience Initiative Goal 5, it makes County buildings more energy efficient. |
County Strategic Plan Goal: 1. Make Harris County safer and more just. Through construction/renovation of facilities for CAO, HCSO and Constables. Per Climate/Resilience Initiative Goal 5, it makes County buildings more energy efficient and cost effective. |
Per Climate/Resilience Initiative Goal 5, it makes County buildings more energy efficient and cost effective. |
County has existing capability to implement, and dependencies are unlikely to impede. |
It does not involve collaboration with partners. |
Per Climate/Resilience Initiative Goal 5, it makes County buildings more energy efficient. |
Objective: Strengthen enabling support and processes for MWBE programming. Through significant increased opportunities and work with MWBE firms. |
n/a |