Firm: options determine price

Building a Newport Beach city hall is a lot like buying a new car, according to one architectural firm vying for a chance to design the structure.

How much the project will cost depends a lot on what options you want.

City officials are looking to spend anywhere from about $58 million to $73 million for a city hall, adjacent park and parking structure on a prime piece of land on Avocado Avenue next to the central library.

“It’s not extravagant but it’s not the cheapest budget you could get,” said Dan Heinfeld, president of the Irvine-based architectural firm LPA, which is competing to design the structure. “I would say that’s a very appropriate budget. It’s not out of whack for what it would be to create a new facility for Newport Beach.”

Newporters got their first glimpse of preliminary designs from five finalists in a city-sponsored design competition Saturday. All the designs stayed within the city’s budget for the building, park and parking structure, said Mayor Ed Selich.

Plans from the competing firms included everything from wetlands to tide pools, a wine bar and a tower that would be illuminated during public meetings.

The city aims to spend $400 to $450 a square foot on a new city hall building that would be anywhere from 72,000 to 79,000 square feet, or about $28.8 million to $35.5 million, Selich said.

A parking structure that would serve both the city hall and library could cost anywhere from $20,000 to $25,000 per parking space, or about $9 million to $11.3 million. A 12.8 acre park would cost about $8.5 million to $11.3 million.

About $27 million from a development agreement with the Irvine Co. would go toward the project and park fees from more development could go toward building the park, Selich said. The rest might be paid with through certificates of security, he said.

Newport’s multimillion-dollar city hall budget could buy everything from restored wetlands to a wine bar.

Heinfeld believes LPA’s design with an emphasis on sustainability can be built within the budget guidelines, but a firm cost estimate is a ways off, he said.

“If this were a journey of 1,000 miles, we’ve gone about 500 and there are many decisions that need to be made,” Heinfeld said.