Lake forest district HQ costs climb to $2.2 million

Lake County Forest Preserve District officials agree the $4.1 million purchase of a vacant office building for the new headquarters was a good deal.

But costs of interior renovation at the former Motorola building along Winchester Road in Libertyville are being questioned by some district commissioners.

It was not so much the $2.2 million price of construction, furniture, wiring and other aspects of the work that rankled some members of the planning and restoration committee, but the fact the estimate for the entire project was well off the mark.

The original estimate was $1.95 million — about 12 percent lower than the current price.

“We need to understand what went wrong,” Commissioner Aaron Lawlor said.

Forest preserve staff is preparing a spreadsheet to compare initial projections to current costs in advance of a vote by the full board May 10.

Concerns surfaced Monday as the committee considered seven contracts for construction, project oversight, wiring and furniture, mainly to accommodate about 110 employees in a consolidation of district offices on the third floor and a lobby area on the first floor.

Staff emphasized every effort has been made to keep construction and furniture costs as low as possible.

That includes reusing hundreds of desks and chairs, buying refurbished office furniture, using an “open office” design that minimizes the need for new walls and having district staff do demolition and some basic construction.

“There's nothing fancy in this plan at all. It's basic renovation work,” said Andy Kimmel, deputy executive director.

Lawlor, vice-chair of the committee, noted the project originally included a board room and public meeting space, yet the work is still over budget.

“We've significantly scaled back the project,” he said. “I just really want to understand what happened.”

Some commissioners contended that meant the estimate for the entire project actually was off by about $900,000 before the second floor portion was removed.

The biggest discrepancy is in the construction cost, which was estimated at $856,000 but came in at $937,000, the lowest of six bids.

Executive Director Tom Hahn said the original numbers were based on a general per-square-foot estimate not a specific plan.

“I don't see anything that can be taken out anymore,” he said. “We've gone through probably seven redraws.”

Committee member Carol Calabresa, who voted for the contracts, said the desire to keep costs down may have contributed to the low estimate.

“I think some of that number and some of that pressure came from us,” she said.

Lawlor was joined by commissioners Pat Carey and Michelle Feldman in voting against the contracts, which were approved 4-3.

Carey said she understood how costs can change but wanted it to be “very, very clearly defined,” before the official vote.

Half the building will be used by the Lake County Discovery Museum for exhibition space and storage, a separate project to be paid for mainly with private funds.