This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
The Salt Lake County district attorney's office moved another step closer Tuesday to getting its own office space.
County Council members formalized a commitment made last June to budget an additional $20.1 million for the construction of two buildings to house the district attorney's administrative offices.
That addition increases the project cost to $65.4 million. When first proposed in 2009, the bottom line was roughly $33 million.
But problems soon developed with the original plan, sites changed and a second office building was deemed necessary to prepare for even more growth in the booming south county.
Even with the skyrocketing bottom line, the council accepted Mayor Ben McAdams' calculations that showed the county would save $19 million in the first 30 years of owning its own buildings rather than continuing to rent space.
The council also endorsed a consultant's suggestion that a "construction manager at risk" approach be followed to complete the project.
Consultant David Hart said that approach will function more effectively than a traditional design-build system by allowing the county's project team to confer more frequently with the contractor on budget matters and other issues involved in the two buildings:
• A 110,000-square-foot headquarters for the district attorney at 465 S. Main St., directly west of the Matheson Courthouse; and
• A smaller office building near the 3rd District courthouse in West Jordan at about 8000 So. Redwood Road.
"This way we can track the budget much more closely and if we see something move [in terms of cost], we can make adjustments," said Hart, executive vice president of MOCA Systems and formerly the head of the state's Capitol Preservation Board.
Megan Hillyard, county associate director of administrative services, added that she has "a great deal of confidence with the proposed budget" based on her weekly meetings with the project team, which includes Jacobsen Construction and MHTN Architects.
Hart also noted that this approach will allow the county to get construction started more quickly than with design-build.
The unfolding plans are being developed with an eye toward the county sharing the building with another tenant. Deputy Salt Lake County Attorney Ralph Chamness said his office has a letter-of-intent to include the Salt Lake City Attorney's Office in the building.