Over the summer, a building team that included CannonDesign and McCarthy Building Companies completed three new libraries in Riverside County, Calif., that were built simultaneously in just 20 months under a $46 million public-private partnership contract that included a nonprofit specializing in funding P3 projects.
The three libraries—in Desert Hot Springs, Menifee, and French Valley—are now owned by Community Facility Public Private Partnerships (CFP3), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that financed this project via tax-exempt bonds. Over the course of CFP3’s ownership contract, which can run up to 30 years, the County expects to save $25 million in debt service, operations, and maintenance costs. The installation of solar panels alone is expected to save $600,000.
As early as 2014, Riverside County—the fourth most-populous county in the state and the 10th most-populous in the U.S.—realized that its library system wasn’t keeping up with its growth. For example, at the time its existing 10,500-sf library in Menifee was serving 350,000 patrons. And that library’s location near a major roadway excluded expansion, according to a white paper about this project that CFP3 has published.
Back in the 1970s, the County’s Board of Supervisors approved the dedication of 1% of its general property tax for library services. But that wasn’t enough to build and maintain newer, larger branches.
P3 PRECEDENTS
![A tech center inside of the library in French Valley, Calif.](/sites/default/files/inline-images/French%20Valley%202.jpg)
Prior to its library contract, the County had done about 15 P3s for different building types that covered 1 million sf and $600 million of property. To envision how many new libraries it needed, the County’s Office of Economic Development, in partnership with Library Systems and Services (which since the 1990s had operated Riverside’s library system), hired Group 4, a South San Francisco firm that specializes in project planning for libraries and community centers.
In 2018, the Riverside County Library System created an RFP for three new libraries, and received a dozen proposals. The County, which approved this project a year later, determined that the best, and least expensive, course of action would be to hire one team for all three projects under a P3 contract structure.
There were several advantages to taking this route, not the least being that the project could move forward without as many public hearings, procurement protocols, and referendums that can add months to scheduling. And because CFP3 is a nonprofit, it would not be saddled with property taxes as the libraries’ owner. The interest it charged the County for the cost of the project, at between 3% and 3.5%, was less than half of the return on equity a private P3 entity would have expected.
WHAT PARTNERS BROUGHT TO THE TABLE
![New library in Desert Hot Springs, Calif.](/sites/default/files/inline-images/Deset%20Hot%20Springs%201_0.jpg)
The partners in this P3 included Omni West Group, a development and property management firm, that came up with the libraries’ operational budget. CannonDesign created the blueprints for all three libraries that, while having different layouts, share similar attributes like children’s areas, tech centers, and community spaces.
McCarthy, which served as this project’s general contractor, was brought on board in part for its long-time relationships with local subcontractors, which prevented manpower-shortage delays. McCarthy assigned one project manager to monitor all three builds. CFP3 calculates that the design and construction of the libraries accounted for 20% of the total cost, with the rest going toward maintenance and operations.
During construction, there were some community concerns about the 25,000-sf library in French Valley, which opened July 31 and is the only one of the three located in a residential neighborhood. CFP3 states that these concerns were resolved with meetings and virtual fly-throughs of the building.
The new Menifee library opened July 24 at 20,000 sf, and was built to be an anchor for a larger retail development. The Desert Hot Springs library—the first of the three to open, on June 26—is 15,500 sf, and replaces a library that was only around one-fifth that size. “This library is a wonderful anchor for the community,” says Matthew Greiner, AIA, NCARB, Senior Vice President at CannonDesign. “It’s a home base for the wonderful people who live here. It’s where so many bright ideas and futures will be launched.”
Related Stories
Smart Buildings | Jan 7, 2014
9 mega redevelopments poised to transform the urban landscape
Slowed by the recession—and often by protracted negotiations—some big redevelopment plans are now moving ahead. Here’s a sampling of nine major mixed-use projects throughout the country.
| Dec 13, 2013
Safe and sound: 10 solutions for fire and life safety
From a dual fire-CO detector to an aspiration-sensing fire alarm, BD+C editors present a roundup of new fire and life safety products and technologies.
| Dec 10, 2013
16 great solutions for architects, engineers, and contractors
From a crowd-funded smart shovel to a why-didn’t-someone-do-this-sooner scheme for managing traffic in public restrooms, these ideas are noteworthy for creative problem-solving. Here are some of the most intriguing innovations the BD+C community has brought to our attention this year.
| Dec 9, 2013
Tips for designing higher education's newest building type: the learning commons
In this era of scaled-down budgets, maximized efficiencies, new learning methods and social media’s domination of face time, college and university campuses are gravitating toward a new space type: the learning commons.
| Nov 27, 2013
Wonder walls: 13 choices for the building envelope
BD+C editors present a roundup of the latest technologies and applications in exterior wall systems, from a tapered metal wall installation in Oklahoma to a textured precast concrete solution in North Carolina.
| Nov 26, 2013
Construction costs rise for 22nd straight month in November
Construction costs in North America rose for the 22nd consecutive month in November as labor costs continued to increase, amid growing industry concern over the tight availability of skilled workers.
| Nov 25, 2013
Building Teams need to help owners avoid 'operational stray'
"Operational stray" occurs when a building’s MEP systems don’t work the way they should. Even the most well-designed and constructed building can stray from perfection—and that can cost the owner a ton in unnecessary utility costs. But help is on the way.
| Nov 19, 2013
Top 10 green building products for 2014
Assa Abloy's power-over-ethernet access-control locks and Schüco's retrofit façade system are among the products to make BuildingGreen Inc.'s annual Top-10 Green Building Products list.
| Nov 15, 2013
Greenbuild 2013 Report - BD+C Exclusive
The BD+C editorial team brings you this special report on the latest green building trends across nine key market sectors.
| Nov 13, 2013
Installed capacity of geothermal heat pumps to grow by 150% by 2020, says study
The worldwide installed capacity of GHP systems will reach 127.4 gigawatts-thermal over the next seven years, growth of nearly 150%, according to a recent report from Navigant Research.