To revitalize its aging infrastructure, the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors has unanimously given the green light for developing a new government center poised to span 200,000 square feet on the grounds of the current county campus in Santa Rosa. The modern center, which replaces the original from the 1950s beset by increasing repair costs and inefficiencies, introduces a significant mixed-use component, featuring up to 1,000 housing units on a 9.3-acre property slice, as reported by the County of Sonoma.
Oriented toward affordability and accessibility, the proposed center is set to consolidate various administrative functions while offering a more efficient and sustainable work environment for 800 to 1,000 county employees – Supervisor David Rabbitt underscored the necessity of this overhaul, saying, as per the County of Sonoma, “The County Government Center was constructed in the middle of the last century and has problems with accessibility, functionality and operational effectiveness,” signaling a step toward economic and spatial optimization in light of ever-rising building upkeep expenditures.
To balance cost efficiency and infrastructure expansion, county officials pivoted from an initial ambition to amalgamate 1,700 workers in one location, instead adopting more measured strategies. By harnessing the current softening commercial real estate prices, the board agreed to lease, with a purchase option, the former American AgCredit building, which can house 400 employees that would otherwise be stationed at the burgeoning county campus.
With the financial climate favoring buyers and lessees, the chair of the board, David Rabbitt, expressed the timely opportunity to acquire office space, “Never has there been a better opportunity to pick up office space than now,” framing this pragmatic pivot as a response to the realities ushered in by post-pandemic market shifts and the need to make fiscally responsible choices for the county’s future growth, as cited by the County of Sonoma. Furthermore, in a decisive move, the board has integrated into the project's scope the initiation of a new Emergency Coordination Center, opting against staff recommendations to delay this component to a subsequent development phase.
Boasting a budget of $308 million, which snugly fits within the county's $314 million debt financing capacity, the project is anticipated to be completed by 2026, as Johannes Hoevertsz, director of the County’s Department of Public Infrastructure, detailed to the board. Next on the agenda for this ambitious project is sculpting a schematic design followed by an environmental analysis and an Environmental Impact Report, in step with the regulations stipulated by the California Environmental Quality Act.
