Costs for new Dist. 59 administration center up as much as 25 percent
Cost estimates for Elk Grove Township Elementary District 59's proposed administration center have increased as much as 25 percent, from $12.3 million to more than $15 million, officials said.
The latest price estimate for the two-story, 40,000-square-foot administration building, to be constructed at 999 Leicester Road in Elk Grove Village, was given at a school board meeting this week.
Board members Mardell Schumacher and Tim Burns have previously criticized the cost and size of the proposed building.
The price jump is due to increased construction labor costs in the public and private sectors and a diminished labor force in the region, according to Tony Rossi, District 59's executive director for facilities and operations.
District officials originally priced the new building at anywhere from $8 million to $11 million, depending on whether the cost of a kitchen commissary for making student lunches was included.
Over the summer, officials used a price of $12.3 million, inclusive of the building, kitchen, and fees for architects, construction managers and costs to move.
Now that construction documents are complete, contractors have provided the district with hard cost estimates that are above original estimates, Rossi said.
He said the district would look for ways to find savings, such as alternate heating, ventilation and air-conditioning systems and different brick sizes, though officials are satisfied with the layout and initial design of the new building and don't want to make changes that affect the functionality of the space.
The district plans to put the project out to bid before the end of the year in an effort to lock in the best pricing, Rossi said.
Further delays could result in increased construction costs, he added.
The district plans to pay for the building through reserves and by selling the district's current administration center and neighboring former Wellington banquets property at 2121-2123 S. Arlington Heights Road in Arlington Heights.
Red Rocks 4, LLC, a subsidiary of Nicholas & Associates, bid $5 million for the property in July, with an eye toward some type of commercial development or commercial-residential mix. Officials have been negotiating a final sales agreement since then, and plan to bring it to the school board for approval this month or next.
The board is also expected to take a vote to approve or reject a construction bid price for the new building. The project would eventually need the approval of the Elk Grove Village plan commission and village board. Those boards could take up the matter late this year or next January, Rossi said.
An initial timetable called for construction to begin this month and be open in July 2017, but officials said design drawings took longer than expected. So the timeline now calls for breaking ground in the spring, and opening in the late fall or early winter of 2017.