County Narrows Field of New Courthouse Sites

Declining to reopen the competition for a lucrative downtown San Diego courthouse construction project, the San Diego County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday chose two potential developers for the $50- to $80-million complex.

For now, the 5-0 vote narrowed the list of possible sites for the expansion to a pair of parcels directly west of the existing courthouse, despite protests from two of the seven builders who were not chosen.

But the supervisors emphasized that, if negotiations falter with Bentall Development Co. and a joint venture involving several firms, they will return for new talks with some of the other applicants.

The county is proposing to spend no more than $7 million annually on debt financing and operational costs for the proposed 295,000-square-foot complex, which would house 16 courtrooms for civil trials and new offices for the district attorney, county marshal, Probation Department, grand jury and a citizen review board that oversees the Sheriff’s Department.

The existing courthouse on West Broadway, with 60 courtrooms, is old, crowded and plagued by rats, bugs, sewage leaks and asbestos problems. Eight courts have been relocated to the nearby Home Savings Tower. Those judges and eight others would be moved into the new complex when it opens, about five years from now.

The two developers will have eight weeks to respond to a final request for proposals before the supervisors pick a site and a developer.

One of the rejected developers, Starboard Development Corp., contends that it can save the county $1 million annually over other proposals. Another, a joint venture under the name Kajima, believes it was unfairly penalized because its site is three blocks north of the courthouse.