Broward County Commission Workshop on Government Center Replacement – March 3, 2026
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Broward County Commission Workshop on Government Center Replacement – March 3, 2026
This workshop continued the discussion on replacing the 80‑year‑old Broward County Government Center building. Staff, Siskovich Architects, and CBRE presented updates on the reduced program, market options for existing buildings, and public‑private partnership (P3) feasibility. Commissioners reached a consensus to build a new government center at the Gore site (201 West Broward Boulevard) using a design‑build delivery method, not a P3, and to move forward with the reduced program. The building is estimated to cost $664 million in today's dollars, with a funding gap of approximately $450 million.
Discussion Items
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Project Update & Reduced Program: Isami (staff) and Grace Perdomo (Siskovich Architects) reviewed project history since January 2022. The recommended reduced program accommodates 713 employees (with 5% growth) on 14 floors (10 office levels) totaling 396,000 gross square feet (a 38% reduction from the full program of 639,000 sq ft). Parking is reduced to a single garage with 993 spaces. The daycare center was removed and the cafeteria reduced in size. The planning council was also proposed to be relocated elsewhere. Several commissioners expressed support for retaining the daycare, and staff agreed to bring that forward.
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Market Analysis of Existing Buildings: CBRE presented options for lease or sale of large blocks downtown. Two notable options: T3 Fat Village (341,000 sq ft, for lease only) and 110 Tower (over 400,000 sq ft, 82% occupied, for sale unpriced – call for offers had closed the week before). Commissioners criticized CBRE for not providing key details like lease terms, renovation costs, and data room access. Consensus emerged not to lease or buy an existing building, but to build new.
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Public‑Private Partnerships: Mike McShea (CBRE) explained P3 models. Commissioners debated whether to use a P3 for construction or only for managing existing properties. Commissioner Fisher supported a P3 with the county providing financing to save on borrowing costs. Others (Commissioners Furr, Davis, McKenzie) preferred design‑build to avoid delays and retain control. After discussion, the chair determined a consensus to use design‑build for the new building. Staff noted that a P3 for the new building would only affect financing and operations/maintenance, and the county can borrow at lower cost.
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Financial Analysis & Revenue from Existing Sites: Roman (CBRE) presented present‑value revenue projections for ground‑leasing the current Government Center site (115 S. Andrews Ave) and a parking garage (151 SW). Over 99 years, net present value of ground lease plus taxes was estimated at $569 million for the main site and $980 million combined. The one‑time sale value was estimated at $84.1 million. Commissioner Geller questioned the long‑term value of ground leases given inflation. The net budget impact of building the new center would be $9 million/year under ground lease or $13 million/year if existing properties are sold.
Key Outcomes
- Consensus to Build New at the Gore Site: Commissioners agreed not to lease or buy an existing building. The reduced program (396,000 sq ft, 14 stories) was accepted as the basis for moving forward.
- Consensus on Design‑Build Delivery: After debate, the chair stated the consensus was to proceed with a design‑build approach (not a P3) for construction of the new building. Staff will bring back a solicitation for design‑build services.
- Next Steps: Staff will issue a solicitation in summer 2026, with a target to award a contract early 2027. The project timeline is approximately two years for design and permitting, and three years for construction (total five years). Demolition of the existing structure is expected to begin in summer 2026, pending FDEP approval (authorization to proceed with vertical demolition received last week).
- Daycare Review: Commissioners requested that the daycare be included in the program; staff will bring an agenda item to address this.
- Existing Properties: Future consideration of P3 for ground‑lease or sale of the current Government Center site and parking garage will be addressed separately so as not to delay the new building.
Meeting Transcript
I was just trying to harass Lenny, that's all. What did you do the beginning? I I'm gonna kick it off to her. And I had smoking marks. I'm not kicking her. I'm kicking it off by clicking. Um do we have the clicker? Where's the clicker? Is it up there? Perfect. Let me let me let me just hold on. I'm gonna start again. Okay. You'll never stop, but I'd love you to start talking. Thank you, Mr. Mayor and board members. Um as you all remember during January, uh twentieth workshop here in this room. Um, we were directed to come back to the board with a future uh workshop um to talk about the uh government center replacement project. Um, it was originally scheduled last meeting, we moved it to this meeting so that everyone had sufficient time to review and certainly to have individual briefings with each commissioner. Um so what you will hear today, we're joined by um Siskovich Architects and CBRE. They're going to help go through this quickly. Most of you, I believe every single one of you received a one-on-one briefing of this material. Um we'll go through it pretty quickly today. Um, but I want to want to acknowledge our team because uh Public Works Environmental Services Department have put uh a lot of uh time in this under the leadership of Lenny and specifically uh construction management division. So they spent a lot of time at Riyadhna Musada has done a lot of work on this as well to further the project. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Thank you. Mr. Mayor, it's me. It's all yours. So with that said, I'm going to keep the pace and make sure that we keep it going. You all know the building better than I do. It's almost an 80-year-old building. It was meant to be initially a department store. It has retrofitted, it was retrofitted in the 1980s to serve uh as an office uh space, and we could argue it has served its purpose. When we connected back in January, do you ask us to provide you an overview of what we had been doing in the last few years on this project? This slide and the next ones that follow summarize what staff has been engaged in. We are starting in the city county de Copeland in January 2022. And there are a few high points that I would like to highlight. Number one, in June, we acquired the county, acquired what is called the Gore property, the site located at 201 West Brower Boulevard. In 2023, in November of that year year, we were given direction to go ahead and site the new building at that property. In December, we retain services from Cisco Architects to provide uh design criteria package consultant services, and we work with them through 2024. In 2025, we started the site enabling work, basically environmental and site preparation work like surveys and geotechnical studies that will eventually allow for the construction of the new building at the Gore site. In fall of 2025, we completed the design criteria package that was done by Ciskowish Architects, and they developed something that we refer to as the full program. After they deliver on the full program or the DCP, County Administration staff met with them and provided them additional direction, which led to a reduced program, which is the one that you will be seeing today as recommended. In November, we submitted the site assessment report to the Florida Department of Environmental Protections. We're still working through comments received. We do not have approval, and additional details will be sure on that topic later. And then in January, we came to this board and we were asked to put together a presentation, which is the reason why we're here.
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