HUNTINGTON BEACH : Parking Structure Delays Explained

The city’s new downtown parking structure, potentially a key source of revenue in the area’s redevelopment, has cost more and taken longer to complete than city officials had predicted.

The five-level structure, on Main Street near Olive Avenue, was expected to open in July with about 830 spaces, along with the reconstructed Peppers Golden Bear and assorted shops. But it wasn’t until last month that the lower level opened, and the entire structure won’t be ready until the end of December or early next year, said Louis Sandoval, the city’s public works director.

Construction delays are expected to drive the structure’s cost up to between $8 million and $10 million. Original estimates were around $8 million.

The delays are due to the city’s decision to build the structure before downtown redevelopment was completed.

The parking structure has developed under a process known as “design build,” an approach that allows the flexibility to change the design during construction, Sandoval said.

The alternative was to build according to a specific plan, an option that would force the city to wait until downtown redevelopment was completed before putting up a structure, Sandoval said. In the meantime, dozens of shops would be left without adequate parking, he said.

The trade-off meant the parking structure would be built faster but at a higher cost than for a fixed-plan structure.

Part of the increased costs were extra charges to keep the city’s construction-management consultant, Los Alamitos-based Harris & Associates, working on the project until it is completed.

The original $475,000 contract with the firm has risen to $711,596, an extra $237,000 to keep them on the job through December, according a report by Sandoval released last week.

One resident has branded the city’s handling of its parking structure “a total boondoggle,” and some council members have voiced skepticism about the time and money the city has spent on the project.

However, Sandoval said that the overruns were to be expected given the “design build” nature of the project, and that extending the management firm’s contract was actually a money-saving move.

For example, as downtown development continued, the management firm answered questions from interested contractors, gathered pre-construction data and performed other services not included in the original contract with the city, Sandoval said.

“And these were all services that we would’ve had to hire out anyway,” he said.

Councilwoman Grace Winchell, who had led the council’s inquiries into the project’s costs and delays, said she is satisfied with Sandoval’s explanation. “Apparently, that’s just what the process is,” Winchell said.

Sandoval, for his part, said he is hopeful that the parking structure’s latest delay and cost increase will be the last.

“But,” he added, “with a design build project, you never know what might pop up.”