At their regular board meeting last week, the East Aldine District reviewed three schemes for a new office building to house the district offices and related functions.
These schemes, as proposed by the architect, PGAL Associates, varied in size and number of stories. The building is to be built at the center of the new Town Center project on Aldine Mail Route.
The first scheme as developed, is a two story building of approximately 16,950 square feet. The building is mainly for offices of the district, with lease space available on the second floor totaling 3300 sq. feet. On the first floor, in addition to district offices, there is a large multi-purpose/meeting room, able to house almost 200 persons seated or at tables. This room is also divisible into smaller sections. It is served by a small kitchen. A conference room for about 25 persons is also adjacent. The building design features an attractive two story lobby, and on the second floor a large outside Deck overlooking the park and amphitheater which are part of the Town Center development. Construction cost is estimated at about $6,500,000.
The board also considered what was termed Option C, a two story design with more space for lease functions. On the first floor it contains about 1000 square feet of lease space, about 1125 sf of Sheriff’s Storefront space, and the conference room and multi-purpose room as in the First scheme. On the second floor were the East Aldine offices in 1800 sf, and a a space for Contract Deputies in 2100 sf. There was also another 2500 sf of lease space available. Features were similar to the first scheme, except the outside second floor Deck was much smaller. Total size of this scheme is 20,800 sf. Construction cost is about $7,500,000.
The third scheme considered by the board, Option F, is a three story building. This design has the same facilities on the first floor as the previous scheme Option C. On the Second Floor, District offices occupy 1800 sf, and there is lease space of 1540 sf. The large outside Deck is similar to the first scheme in size and overlook. This design has a third floor, containing 2130 sf for Contract Deputies, and lease space totaling 1200 sf. The total size for this building is 23,330 sf. Construction Cost would be about $8,500,000. Because this scheme provides the most opportunity for housing services to the community, and is within the budget set by the board in earlier workshops, the board voted to proceed with this three story scheme.
The three schemes that were considered, were a result of a concerted “programming” session held by a committee to determine needs and possible uses for the new office building. At a workshop session, the board, staff, architects and landscape planners, and consultants including State Representative Armando Walle and commercial real estate expert Bill Ginder, discussed alternatives and arrived at these three schemes to be further developed by the planners.
Last month the board selected a “Construction Manager at Risk” to oversee the construction and keep the project within budget. After this month’s board action, the architect was instructed to proceed. Construction is expected to start in 2019, and be completed in 2020.
RECONSTRUCTION OF MEDIANS
In other board action, an engineering firm Cobb, Fendley was hired to design a solution to the continued damage incurred on medians by large trucks and other equipment. Lead civil engineer Mahmoud Salehi will study at least four intersections that have been damaged, including JFK, Aldine Westfield, and Little York, to design a more durable installation. After that reconstruction of these medians will follow.