At its Tuesday meeting this past week, Monroe County’s council got a briefing that included some estimated hard construction costs for a new jail with different bed counts—400 compared to 500 beds.
The difference in hard construction cost between a 500-bed jail and a 400-bed jail is about $20.2 million. That’s based on 120,000 square feet for a 400-bed facility and 150,000 square feet for a 500-bed facility and a construction cost of $674 per square foot.
The hard construction cost for a 400-bed new jail is estimated at $80.9 million. The current jail has 287 beds.
The additional hard construction cost of a new, 50-percent bigger justice center, to be co-located with a new jail, is estimated at around $78.7 million. That’s based on a 136,848-square-foot facility, at a cost of $575 per square foot. The current justice facilities cover 91,222 square feet.
The all-in cost of a combined new 400-bed jail and a co-located justice facility—which includes 20-percent for “soft costs”—would be about $199.6 million. Soft costs include contingency, professional fees, land purchase, FFE (furniture, fixtures and equipment), bond counsel, permits, printing and the like.
All the numbers came from Chris Ciolli, with Weddle Bros. Construction, and Scott Carnegie, with DLZ Corporation, who briefed the county council on Tuesday.
It was just after a storm blew through the county, leaving many Duke Energy customers without power for a day, some as long as four days. Power was available at the county courthouse on Tuesday evening. Continue reading “Planned new jail budget numbers start to come into sharper focus for Monroe County council”
