Turner, AC Martin Win $520M CA State Project

By Barbra Murray

Rendering of California Department of Natural Resources headquarters in Sacramento, Calif.

Turner Construction Co., in partnership with architectural firm AC Martin, just landed a big fish in the Golden State. The team secured a design-build contract with the State of California Department of General Services for the new 838,000-square-foot Department of Natural Resources headquarters. The downtown Sacramento office development carries a project cost of approximately $597 million, with $520.5 million dedicated to construction, which is expected to commence in early summer.

Referred to as the P Street Building in some State records, the 20-story office tower will rise on the site of a former surface parking lot on the block of O and P streets and 7th and 8th streets. The new development will have enough elbowroom to accommodate more than just the Department of Natural Resources. The building will also be home to seven other state agencies.

Ultimately the tower, which will also encompass a 300-seat auditorium, will be the workplace of 3,500 state employees. But the P Street Building will also be a new destination for the public, offering 10,000 square feet of ground-level retail space, a multi-vendor food court and a pedestrian plaza. However, the most defining characteristic of the development will be its greenness. The property is designed to meet LEED Platinum and zero-net energy standards, with such features as radiant floor heating and mechanical chilled sails, as well as reclaimed water systems. The P Street Building is expected to use at least 50 percent less water than a typical, comparable office building.

“AC Martin has proposed an iconic building that will enrich the Sacramento skyline and increase the street-level engagement,” Daniel Kim, director of the State of California Department of General Services, said in a prepared statement.

The joint venture’s contract also calls for upgrades to the exterior of the neighboring historic Heilbron house, in addition to the construction of a childcare center that will be the largest such facility constructed by the state.

Teamwork

Turner and AC Martin have a partnership that goes back 45 years. The Department of Natural Resources headquarters marks the 13th California project the companies have taken on together. Previous partnerships between Turner and AC Martin yielded other developments in the state capital, including the 950,000-square-foot California Environmental Protection Agency headquarters building. The firms also teamed up on the $1.1 billion Wilshire Grand Center, a 73-story Los Angeles mixed-use tower that holds the distinction of being the tallest building in the Western United States.

Image courtesy of Turner Construction Co.