Project Dinner Table’s 2012 culinary season kicked off at Molasky Corporate Center.  The first floor garage was amazingly turned into a white table clothed grotto.  More than 170 guests enjoyed a phenomenal dinner prepared by James Beard Award winner Michele Richard and Todd Harrington who are based at Central at Caesars Palace. The community beneficiaries for the evening were JDRF and Candlelighters of So. Nevada.  For more information visit www.projectdinnertable.com.

As reported in the Las Vegas Review-Journal
May 3, 2012

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
April 26, 2012

LIBERTY BELL AWARD HONORS LIONEL AND MOLASKY
Award honors community leaders who promote a greater respect for the law and government

Las Vegas – Mr. Samuel Lionel and Mr. Irwin Molasky are the recipients of the 2012 Liberty Bell award.  Mr. Lionel and Mr. Molasky will be honored on Friday, May 4 from 3 to 4 p.m. at the Las Vegas replica of the Liberty Bell (located at the corner of Fourth Street and Lewis Avenue) in Centennial Park.

The award recognizes individuals in the community who uphold the rule of law, contribute to good government within the community, stimulate a sense of civic responsibility, and encourage respect for the law in the courts.  The award ceremony will be in conjunction with the rededication of the Las Vegas Liberty Bell.

Mr. Molasky and Mr. Lionel, founded Project REAL in 2005 to meet the challenge of teaching Nevada grade school students the importance of the law and its contribution to the American way of life. Project REAL educates K-12 students about the principles of democracy, law and the responsibilities of citizenship. Through a variety of programs, students have the opportunity to explore our judicial system, examine current controversial issues and become involved, participating citizens who understand their social responsibilities and rights.

Samuel Lionel is a founder of the Lionel Sawyer & Collins. He serves as President of the Firm, member of the Executive Committee, and Chairman of the Litigation Department. Mr. Lionel is one of the most respected and well-known trial attorneys in Nevada. His depth of experience and long record of success at trial continues to serve the Firm’s prestigious clients.

Mr. Lionel was named to “The Top 75″ by Mountain States Super Lawyers. Most recently, Best Lawyers, named Mr. Lionel as the “Las Vegas Best Lawyers Corporate Lawyer of the Year” for 2010.

Irwin Molasky is considered one of the most prolific real estate developers in the country. His mark can be found in all aspects of design and development from residential to office buildings, malls and shopping centers, commercial, healthcare, aviation, hospitality, multifamily and mixed use developments.

Molasky is featured in the book, The First 100 which chronicles the Southern Nevada’s leading citizens. He has been honored by the LIED Institute for Real Estate Studies and was inducted into the Nevada Business Hall of Fame.

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Why the Liberty Bell?  No icon better personifies the struggles in the birth of our nation. The Liberty Bell tolled on July 4, 1776, for all to come to Philadelphia’s Independence to hear the first public reading of the Declaration of Independence.  The Annual Liberty Bell Award, a partnership between the Clark County Law Foundation’s Let Freedom Ring Committee and the City of Las Vegas, has been recognizing and honoring outstanding citizens since 1983.

The Clark County Law Foundation is dedicated to providing community service programs throughout Southern Nevada that are integrated with law-related education.   If you would like more information on the Clark County Law Foundation or the Liberty Bell Awards, please contact Jade Deitrick at (702) 333-8277 or Director@ClarkCountyLawFoundation.org

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

TAX CREDITS FINANCE NEW
AFFORDABLE SENIOR APARTMENTS IN LAS VEGAS

April 23, 2012- Ovation Development Corporation and Silver Sage Manor, Inc. are please to announce the groundbreaking for Lone Mountain Senior Apartments, a new 75-unit mixed-income senior rental development being constructed on the southeast corner of Rainbow Boulevard and Lone Mountain Road in the northwest part of the city of Las Vegas.

The groundbreaking will take place Thursday, May 3rd at 10:00 a.m. at the project site, 4652 N Rainbow Blvd. Taking part in the ceremony will be Las Vegas City Councilman Steven D. Ross as well as representatives from the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Nevada Department of Business and Industry, Housing Division, Wells Fargo Bank, and other public and private funders.

Lone Mountain Senior Apartments will meet a growing need in the Las Vegas Valley for barrier-free and affordable supportive senior housing serving residents age 55 and above. 65 units will be income-restricted, affordable to seniors at or below 40% of area median income, with all utilities included. The remaining 10 market rate units will allow Lone Mountain to serve a broader income range of senior households. Lone Mountain Senior Apartments will employ a full-time Resident Services Coordinator, who will assist residents with remaining financially and physically self-sufficient.

The attractive three-story residence will include 45 one-bedroom units and 30 two-bedroom units. Lone mountain will include a swimming pool and spa, facilities for meetings and social gatherings, a game area, exercise room, and a common area kitchen available for residents’ use during social events. The building will include high efficiency heating and cooling equipment, EnergyStar appliances and photovoltaic solar generation that will offset more than 10.0% of projected electrical consumption.

The $10.7 million project will create an estimated 200 construction jobs over the next year and 3 permanent jobs. More than eighty percent of the financing for Lone Mountain Senior Apartments comes from a competitive award of Federal Low-Income Housing Tax Credits, administered by the Nevada Department of Business and Industry, Housing Division, and purchased by Wells Fargo Affordable Housing Community Development Corporation. Additional project financing comes from Wells Fargo Bank, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the City of Las Vegas Department of Economic and Urban Development. Created by the Tax Reform Act of 1986, the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit is the most important resource today for creating affordable housing in the United States. Since 1987, the tax credit has financed an estimated 33,777 housing projects and over 2.2 million housing units across the nation.

The Apartments is being co-developed by Ovation Development Corporation, which is an affiliate of The Molasky Group of Companies, and Silver Sage Manor, Inc., a 20-year old Nevada non-profit organization. Ovation and Silver Sage also partnered on the development of Acapella, a 142-unit new construction affordable senior community located at 5025 East Mohave Avenue at Nellis Boulevard, which opens this month.

Since 1984, Ovation and its Founder, Alan Molasky, have built 26 apartment communities in the Las Vegas area comprising 7,324 units valued in excess of one billion dollars. These developments are considered to be the premiere apartment communities in Las Vegas. The Molasky Group of Companies is a diversified group or real estate companies responsible for much of the Las Vegas’ current skyline.

Silver Sage Manor, Inc. is a non-profit 501(c)(3) corporation founded in 1991 whose mission is “to serve the needs of seniors by developing high-quality affordable housing.” To date, Silver Sage Manor, Inc. has sponsored the creation of 582 affordable rental units in 14 developments across Nevada.

Lone Mountain will be professionally managed by Horizon Las Vegas Property Management, which specializes in tax credit properties and has an outstanding record of compliance.

# # #

IMHO

Irwin Molasky on Las Vegas today and Paradise Palms’ lasting legacy.
By Irwin Molasky
As reported in BLVDS LV

Contrary to popular belief, I did not attend the 1905 land sale that created Las Vegas. Still, I’ve lived here a very long time and do recall that Maryland Parkway was an oiled, dirt road…I know because I used to drive the oil truck myself.

It’s true that Las Vegas constantly evolves, but many things here stand the test of time. The 106-year-old Golden Gate Hotel is being remodeled to take advantage of the downtown awakening. The former Las Vegas High School, which opened in 1931, today educates new generations of students as the Las Vegas Academy of International Studies, Performing, and Visual Arts.

Another piece of Las Vegas history that remains relevant today is Paradise Palms, which is celebrating 50 years as the first master-planned development in Southern Nevada. Far from being a dusty Rat Pack relic, the community near Desert Inn Road and Maryland Parkway remains vibrant with a strong sense of identity.

Paradise Palms proved to be ahead of its time in several ways. The architects were Dan Palmer and William Krisel, of Palmer & Krisel, one of the most
influential firms Southern California ever produced. The interior designs were by world renowned C. Tony Pereira. Its homes feature some of the best examples of Mid-Century Modern design found anywhere and have been likened to TV’s “The Jetsons.” The development was one of the first to forgo straight street grids and use the curvilinear patterns you see today in Summerlin and Green Valley.

It was the place to be in old Las Vegas and attracted scores of A-list residents, including Johnny Carson, Bobby Darin, Howard Hughes’ right-hand man Robert
Maheu, Dean Martin and Caesars Palace founder Jay Sarno.

Today the makeup of Paradise Palms is as diverse as ever, with new media entrepreneurs and artists rubbing elbows with tourism executives and active retirees.

The neighborhood remains popular for the same reasons it always has: quality homes set in an attractive location that’s convenient to the Strip, airport, and rest
of the valley, allowing residents to easily plug into or step back from the bustle of the city.

Paradise Palms is a true treasure of Las Vegas, and not just for its remarkable history and iconic architecture. It is a vibrant neighborhood that is home to
an eclectic mix of talented, energetic, forward-thinking people.

There is an active, vibrant group of homeowners 50 years later that love this community and have meetings to support their neighborhood. Thanks to this dedicated group of men and women, Paradise Palms continues to hold its value and be a sought after refuge of tranquility.

And this dynamic is the most enduring thing about Las Vegas.

As seen on DiamondCake.com
April 2012 article entitled “Mr. Everything” by Tony Illia

A stately office building stands sentinel over  downtown Las Vegas, safeguarding its once  fragile future. Nestled north of the northeast  edge of Symphony Park, the 17-story concreteand-  glass tower is the city’s first office building to obtain  gold-level Leadership in Energy and Environmental  Design [LEED] certification. Indeed, the $100-milliondollar  Molasky Corporate Center sets a new standard for  sustainable construction. The eco-friendly high-rise counts  the Southern Nevada Water Authority as its main tenant,  but the top floor is reserved for the building’s namesake  developer, Irwin Molaksy. The stylishly designed lobby of  the Molasky Group of Companies features marble floors  and black Ostrich leather furniture with modern chrome and  glass accent tables. A white backdrop wall is patterned with  recessed fleurs-de-lis – Molasky’s company logo – with three  leaves historically representing those who worked, fought  and prayed in French culture.

Molasky graciously greets me in the lobby, guiding me  through the airy space lined with floor-to-ceiling windows.  Natural light floods the meticulously clean interior where  everything is neatly ordered. Models, photos and awards  from a half century of development projects testify to  Molasky’s lasting legacy. His pioneering spirit has forever  changed the landscape of Southern Nevada. As a real  estate developer Molasky’s professional portfolio is wildly  diverse, encompassing homes and condominiums, hotels and  hospitals, office buildings and golf courses. He moved to Las  Vegas when the town had only 25,000 people and three-party  phone lines. It was never in doubt what he would do.

Molasky built his first five-unit apartment complex in  California at age 18, doing all the concrete work himself.  “I grew up in the building business. During summer time,  I would work on the construction jobs, carrying water and  hauling lumber,” says Molasky. “I came here and bought a  piece of land in 1950 and started construction in 1951.”

Molasky built the 18-room Pyramids motel (pre-Luxor)  and speculative homes, including the Paradise Palms  subdivision, which became the premier address in Las  Vegas. Johnny Carson, Debbie Reynolds, Dean Martin,  LaToya Jackson and Dinah Shore all once owned homes in  Paradise Palms. Several homes line the Las Vegas National  Golf Club – another Molasky development – which was a  favorite “Rat Pack” hang-out. He later constructed the city’s  first private hospital – Sunrise Medical Center – in 1958 with  friend and partner Merv Adelson, who was twice married  to TV journalist Barbara Walters. The hospital eventually  established the region’s first neonatal intensive care unit,  and grew to become one of the nation’s top 100 facilities for  cardiovascular care.

“Irwin is a man of wonderful character. He is always  concerned about community in the broadest sense of the  word,” says longtime friend Elaine Wynn. “He has oldfashioned,  roll-up your sleeves values. He has worked hard  his entire life, and always applied himself.”

Yet, Sunrise was only one of many firsts for Molasky, who  co-built the valley’s first luxury high-rise condominiums –  Park Towers at Hughes Center – with Steve Wynn. The $125  million, 20-story twin-tower development, located on the  western edge of the 68-acre Hughes Center master-planned  business complex in the center of town, subsequently sparked  the valley’s decade-long vertical building boom.

Molasky is also responsible for The Boulevard, which  opened in 1967 as the state’s first and largest fully enclosed  mall. The 1.3 million square foot retail complex brought  Sears, JCPenney, and Dillard’s to the Las Vegas Valley.  Molasky additionally built the first Class-A office tower  in downtown Las Vegas, the Bank of America Plaza. The  gleaming 17-story steel-and-glass tower debuted at 300 South  Fourth Street in 1976. Molasky then built the eight-story  Bank of America West at 6900 Westcliff Drive.

“The thing I love about building is getting to interact with  bright young people all the time. I enjoy creating something,”  says Molasky. “I like being able to exchange ideas with  fabulous architects, engineers and finance guys from around  the country.”

That exchange of ideas has seemingly kept Molasky onestep  ahead of competitors. When the real estate market  imploded, for example, Molasky had already transitioned  into doing public-private partnerships. He built the fourstory,  93,846-square-foot Internal Revenue Service building  that opened in 2005 in downtown Las Vegas. The cityowned,  five-acre lot was valued at $2 million, but Molasky  spent about $15 million for the development, consequently  producing an improved property with a higher taxable value.

“Public-private partnerships are growing because of  severe financial constraints,” says Las Vegas-based economic  analyst John Restrepo. “It’s a very effective way to get  projects started. These are the wave of the future.”

Molasky, who turned 85 in February, still has a boyish  enthusiasm that he focuses on the future. His unfettered  optimism is contagious. He is passionately engaged in a  myriad of things from real estate development to racing horses,  including backing 2000 Breeder’s Cup winner Kona Gold.  (Molasky would like being a sports announcer in another career).

Philanthropy will likely be his greatest legacy. “Irwin  is looking to help everybody. He has huge, huge heart. He  doesn’t understand saying, ‘No,’” says longtime friend Sam  Lionel. “I haven’t known anyone that has dealt with him and  didn’t like him.”

Molasky donated 45 acres of raw land along Maryland  Parkway that eventually became the main campus of  the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV). The land  assemblage was a key component to establishing the  university, which until then had been a satellite extension for  the University of Nevada in Reno. Banker and longtime local  powerbroker E. Parry Thomas led the charge. “Parry Thomas  asked me to give my land to the university. I could never say  no to Parry,” says Molasky. “He said it will send a message. He  was absolutely right.”

That was the beginning of UNLV. In 1981, Molasky became  the inaugural chairman of the UNLV Foundation that has since  raised more than $800 million for student and faculty support.  (He holds an honorary doctorate from the school). However,  Molasky’s most personal passion lies with the founding Nathan  Adelson Hospice, named after his partner’s late father. It was  only the country’s third hospice when founded in 1978.

“Nathan Adelson was a very dignified man, but he died  an undignified death. Merv and I figured that there should  be a better way,” says Molasky. “We’re taught everything;  but we’re not taught about dying. And a lot people can’t  handle that.”

The hospice has since grown to encompass four facilities,  including one in Pahrump, with a $32 million annual budget  and 710 employees and volunteers. Nathan Adelson has  cared for over 50,000 patients who had less than six months  or less to live. It never turns anyone away. The hospice has  treated the homeless and prisoners. Last year, it provided  $1 million in uncompensated care, much of it raised by  Molasky’s wife Susan. Nathan Adelson Hospice has become  an industry leader, offering webinars and training to other  hospices nationwide.

“No one should end the journey of life, afraid, alone  or in pain. We just do the right thing for patients,” says  Hospice President and Chief Executive Carole Fisher.  “Irwin doesn’t tout his contribution very well, so others need  to do it for him. Nathan Adelson Hospice is one of the greatest  accomplishments in his life.”

Molasky demurs, reflecting on a life filled with monumental  achievements: “I had more guts than brains, I guess.”

Later on March 7, a crowd of more nearly two hundred  medical industry figures, Hospice board of trustee  members, publicists, media representatives and various  friends of Irwin Molasky gather at a six-story medical  office building on the MountainView Hospital campus for  the ribbon cutting of Nathan Adelson Hospice’s Tenaya  Inpatient Unit. Tours are offered of the 15,000 square foot  facility, which was designed to better serve patients in the  Northwest and Summerlin areas. The guests marvel at  the 18 state-of-the-art rooms, amenities that take visiting  family members into consideration, the views, the chapel  and meditation room. Halls are lined with dessert tables  and the delicious smells demand a search for the room  containing the catered food.

After Champagne is passed for a toast, Fisher takes  the podium to thank more than a dozen attending VIPs,  including Merv Adelson, before introducing Molasky. “It’s  a privilege for me to work with someone who is rich in  wisdom, compassion, generosity and wit,” says Fisher.

Molasky steps up to applause and cheers, joking that  Fisher already made half of his remarks for him. He  thanks Fisher, welcomes the staff and volunteers. “Each  individual not only provides medical care, but they open  up their hearts to all of these terminally ill people, and  they hold their hands and let them know there’s someone  there who cares,” says Molasky, his voice affected by  emotion for an instant before thanking MountainView  Hospital, architects KGA, the general contractor, his  board of trustees and his wife Susan Molasky, “the most  important person in my life.”

He briefly tells the story of Nathan Adelson. More  speeches are given, the ribbon is cut. Molasky radiates  relaxed energy, like this is still only the beginning. The  crowds converge and he navigates back to Mrs. Molasky  before summing up what the Hospice means to him in a  simple sentence. “This is the best thing I’ve ever done.”

SAKS NAMES VEGAS DOZEN: UC SAN DIEGO NEVADA CANCER INSTITUTE BENEFIT
As reported in the Las Vegas Review-Journal
by Norm Clarke

“Vegas Dozen: The Men We Love and Why We Love Them” will be hosted by Saks Fifth Avenue on April 18 at the Fashion Show mall.

The event, a benefit for the UC San Diego Nevada Cancer Institute, honors 12 men from various backgrounds and professions who exemplify great personal and professional commitment to the community.

This year’s honorees: Tony Berti, co-founder, Goodie Two Shoes; Chuck Bowling, president and chief operating officer , Mandalay Bay Resort; Dr. Jeffrey Cummings, director, Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health; Barry Dakake, executive chef, N9NE Steakhouse; Todd Duboef, president, Top Rank Boxing; Jason Feinberg, news anchor, KVVU-TV, Channel 5; Rick Harrison, owner, Gold & Silver Pawn; Jillette ; John F. O’Reilly, president and CEO, O’Reilly Law Group; UNLV basketball coach Dave Rice; Seth Schorr, CEO, Fifth Street Gaming; and Richard S. Worthington, president and chief operating officer , The Molasky Group.

Experts Weigh In on the Pros and Cons of What AB 109 Means to Public-Private Partnerships

Correctional News article entitled “Realignment and P3 in California” March/April Issue
By Lisa Kopochinski

From left to right: Nick Warner, Richard Worthington, Jeff Bradley and Peter Sukalo.

Signed by California Governor Jerry Brown less than a year ago in April 2011, assembly bill (AB) 109, the realignment process that is shifting low-level, nonviolent offenders from the state prison and parole system to county jails and probation departments only took effect a few months ago. While it is far too early to decide if this is a success or failure, it is clear that one of the major challenges will be for counties to identify long-term funding sources for these new responsibilities. What is also becoming more prevalent are public-private partnerships (P3) where government and private industry collaborate on a project — which is funded and operated through both entities — and which provide tremendous opportunities for both.

Correctional News recently sat down with four individuals from a variety of firms — Nick Warner, managing partner at Warner & Pank LLC, a government relations and legislative advocacy firm in Sacramento, Calif.; Peter Sukalo, vice president, justice group director for the Tutor Perini Corporation Building Group, of which Redwood City, Calif.-headquartered general and engineering contractor Rudolph and Sletten, Inc., is part of; Richard Worthington, president and COO of The Molasky Group of Companies, a real estate development and management firm based in Las Vegas, Nev.; Jeff Bradley, vice president, global justice program director, for HDR Architecture in Dallas, Texas; and Buddy Johns, president of CGL/Capital Solutions, a planning, design, facility finance and management firm based in Atlanta, Ga. All were candid in their thoughts about realignment as it relates to P3 projects and how their companies are and may be affected and benefited.

Q: Please tell me what your firm’s thoughts are on realignment in California?

Warner: I think it’s difficult. I think that if anybody — whether it’s a legislator, journalist, sheriff, chief probation officer or a county supervisor — tells you with certainty that this is going to be dismal failure or a smashing success is premature in their judgment. We are four months into the biggest correction shift the nation has probably ever seen. There are reasons to think counties can do it better and there are reasons to think we can get buried by this. The Supreme Court ruled that we shall reduce our prison population by 35,000 people. You can say you don’t like this, but it’s not that easy. It is 30 years in the making.

Johns: Realignment simply means opportunity. The demand for the beds is there regardless of whether the offenders are housed in the state system or the county systems. The simple fact is that there is a need and we believe that realignment is a step in the right direction to begin to solve problems to fill that need. Unfortunately, it puts significant demands on counties that were already—in most cases—stressed. However, it also includes many more stakeholders, both public and private, to be able to have the input, means and ability to help with solutions. Instead of the state having to take one giant step, all of us can take many little baby steps.

Sukalo: Rudolph and Sletten is supportive of any state of California process that provides additional project opportunities to the construction industry and helps create construction jobs. With the loss of the majority of the CDCR projects due to the state budget cutbacks, we are hopeful that additional state funds will be diverted to the counties to support the AB 900 projects that are in need of funding. Another potential funding solution to support much needed state/county correctional projects could come from private developers. Several private developers are currently well-positioned to finance, design/build, and lease back correctional facilities via a public-private partnership. Under this solution, operational responsibility can be retained by state and local government.

Worthington: AB109 and the governor’s Plan for realignment has already transferred approximately 13,000 inmates to local county responsibility as a result of federal lawsuits, overcrowding within the state’s correctional system and persistent state budget shortfalls. The Molasky Group of Companies is committed to helping the state of California and various communities in California go beyond the prison system as legislated. Our development solutions offer economic alternatives for counties that create jobs, support public safety and prepare inmates for release with programs designed to reduce recidivism.

Bradley: We leave the politics to the politicians and administrators. Times change and in our business, architects need to be dynamic to perform. We feel for the counties, but HDR can help them with any challenges they may face from realignment. We have a great 34-year history with CDCR and the counties and are presently doing very large important projects for both entities. This market is cyclical in nature with different forces and issues causing those changes. This shift comes at a challenging economic time for the entities and together we can help them resolve their challenges.

Q: How will California’s realignment issue help companies such as yours?

Worthington: We can serve as a partner to governmental entities in California and provide services/expertise in financing, design, developing, constructing and delivering turnkey operational facilities at extremely attractive terms. The Molasky team has significant experience in successful public-private partnerships with federal, state and local governmental entities in the design, construction and financing of numerous facilities totaling in excess of 2 million square feet and having an aggregate value of nearly $1 billion. Partnering with us can afford agencies the ability to significantly mitigate numerous risks associated with project delivery ranging from eliminating project cost overruns and alleviating agencies of significant coordination efforts, to saving the agency valuable taxpayer dollars through the efficient acquisition of needed facilities.

Johns: I believe that many private companies can benefit from the long-term impact of realignment. This process is likely to get many needed projects off the drawing board and into the ground. We and all the service providers to the justice and correction market will benefit from the likelihood of projects getting started.

Warner: There is no benefit to my firm, but it does challenge us to find and seek solutions to deal with the challenges presented by realignment. We are interested in pursuing every possible opportunity for counties to improve their current situation both to handle new offenders and to make sure we don’t fall on the same lawsuits and liabilities the state has. We are involved in helping put groups together that can aid counties and in the education process with counties that are understanding how to use P3. And, we’re involved with state representatives to see if there are any legal barriers to using P3. Our interest is to look under every stone to deliver resources to counties so we can handle this realignment.

Q: What do you see as the pros and cons of realignment from your perspective?

Johns: The pros and cons are completely different based on an individual’s perspective. I would assume that the larger counties must have a significantly longer list of cons than most other stakeholders. That is the unfortunate outcome of such a significant change. The real pros will not be seen for many years, but hopefully a closer contact with the communities and family and a focus on re-entry programming will help end the cycle and reduce recidivism.

Worthington: This is a difficult time for the state of California and certainly for many counties as they weigh the options for developing properties and managing inmates through a newly established community-based correctional system. The positives that may come from realignment is the heavy focus on community-based corrections that will be necessary in order for realignment to work successfully. Hopefully investments made today in realignment will result in lower recidivism, better public safety outcomes and more effective rehabilitation for lower risk, lower level offenders.

Bradley: The counties will need help with financing and we are very experienced with that part of project delivery as well. HDR has a large experienced team of P3 experts, including real estate analysts, financial planners and economists to help them with these issues. We have done P3 projects for decades allowing our experience and assets to help the states and counties meet their needs. We help them meet their challenges by providing P3 advisory services, P3 design delivery, site planning, master planning, projection studies, design (both architectural and in-house engineering specialties), financial planning and program management.

Sukalo: California counties currently have the option of using the design/bid/build or design/build project delivery method to build their correctional facilities. Rudolph and Sletten plans to work directly with the counties that are selected to receive AB 900 funding to assist them with selecting the best process for delivering their project. We intend to introduce the counties to a P3 delivery option that will work well for both the private developer and public operator. The state of California Department of General Services’ (DGS) current P3 contract language makes it difficult for private developers to secure financing for State P3 projects.

Q: Will realignment be a boon or bust?

Bradley: The taxpayers end up paying the bill whether people are housed at the state or county level. The officials and laws determine just where they will be housed. This will give some counties an opportunity to update, renovate and improve safety in older facilities. I would think it would benefit the design, financing and construction industry — and the modernized institutions improving the safety for both staff and inmates.

Worthington: We believe that the realignment process will be another opportunity for real estate companies such as ours to partner with state and local government to find solutions to create needed capacity at the local level for these new inmate populations. The better suited firms will have the requisite skills and experience to deliver turn-key facilities as time is of the essence for the realignment process to be successful.

Sukalo: In our opinion, any process that helps deal with California’s inmate population challenges and creates additional project opportunities and construction jobs would be considered a positive outcome for California and our construction industry.

Q: What P3 projects or efforts is your company/firm currently involved with in the correctional arena?

Warner: Anything can happen in this environment. I don’t think there is going to be enough AB900 funding to address the need. So we’re going to have to find alternative creative ways to fund not just more jail beds, but better jail beds. By that, I mean mental health facilities inside county jails, health facilities inside county jails. There’s not enough state money.

Sukalo: Counties throughout the nation are evaluating public/private partnerships as a potential alternative project delivery method for much needed court and jail facilities. We are exploring teaming arrangements with P3 developers, justice architects and subcontractors to pursue P3 correctional projects.

Worthington: Our firm has done several public-private-partnership correctional projects in Nevada that were very successful projects for the state and county clients we assisted. The Molasky Group of Companies would also like to assist California as offender/inmate populations realign from the state prison system to the county level for lessor sentences and inmates approaching the end of their sentences. We have been in contact with various law enforcement and public safety officials, lawmakers and policymakers throughout the state for the last several years looking for ways to deliver cost-effective solutions to assist with the overcrowding problems in California.

Bradley: We are working with two foreign government project teams for P3 prison work right now. And we are talking with multiple state correctional systems. We also are involved in several very large domestic county jail P3 projects. We recently completed the design documents and construction documents in just five-and-a-half months for CDCR’s $512 million, 1,722-bed, 1.2 million square foot health care facility in Stockton, Calif. HDR is also designing 13 very specialized correctional health care facilities for CDCR at three different prisons, as well as a 200-bed prison hospital for Illinois DOC. And we are about to open a 435,000-square-foot jail in Raleigh N.C.

Additionally, we were awarded by the Kuwaiti Government in 2010 the 3 million square foot, 6,250-bed Kuwait Correctional Complex in a global competition.

FBI Division Headquarters Minneapolis

‘Blast-proof’: FBI’s new home blends fortress, suburban office

Posted: 7:35 am Mon, March 19, 2012
By  BRIAN JOHNSON
As reported in: FINANCE & COMMERCE

The new FBI Minneapolis Division headquarters building in Brooklyn Center looks pleasant enough on the inside and outside, but it wasn’t designed to win any beauty contests.

The $61 million, 144,000-square-foot edifice, which opened last month at 1501 Freeway Blvd., was built with security in mind. Think sturdy materials, bulletproof windows, a guard station, metal detectors, concrete “deterring obstacles,” electronic surveillance systems and iron fencing.

“The building is, for lack of a better term, blast-proof,” said Kyle Loven, chief division counsel and media coordinator for the FBI’s Minneapolis Division, which covers Minnesota and the Dakotas.

Designed by Minneapolis-based HGA Architects and built by Minneapolis-based Kraus-Anderson, the building is a fortress without the moat. Still, with a school down the street and homes nearby, the building looks, for the most part, un-fortress-like.

If not for the iron security fence around the building and the guard station in the parking lot out front, passersby on busy Freeway Boulevard might mistake the boxy five-story building for a typical office complex.

“It’s a timeless type of construction,” said Gary Eitel, business and development director for the city of Brooklyn Center, which offered the previously underused site for $1, outbidding two other cities for the project.

A new building has long been on the FBI’s wanted list.

FBI officials say they needed the new headquarters because they had outgrown their 59,000-square-foot space at 111 Washington Ave. S. in downtown Minneapolis, the division’s home for roughly 20 years.

Loven said the FBI rented additional space downtown, and “we have been able to consolidate some of those off-sites into a centralized building here.”

Beyond the $1 price, the Brooklyn Center site was attractive because it’s still a central location, he said.

It’s one of 56 FBI offices throughout the country. In recent years, the feds have unveiled new FBI offices in cities like Denver, Cincinnati and Indianapolis, and a 250,000-square-foot, $100 million field office is under construction in San Diego.

The FBI has been moving away in the past 20 years or so from co-locating offices in buildings with other agencies, preferring instead to build custom-designed stand-alone buildings.

The federal government is leasing the Brooklyn Center space on a 20-year deal with the developer, the Las Vegas-based Molasky Group, an arrangement that gives the feds some flexibility and allows the building to remain on the city’s tax rolls, Loven said.

The FBI is paying $6.4 million a year in rent.

Loven said the Molasky Group was responsible for the cost of constructing the building, which houses about 200 employees, working in everything from forensic evidence processing to polygraph examinations.

The complex includes a main building, a three-story parking garage and a small annex for vehicle maintenance.

Getting into the building is like going through the airport. The first stop is a guard house with a metal detector. Security guards ask visitors to empty their pockets, and the possessions are run through a screening device.

On the main building’s first floor, a secure vault holds guns for SWAT operations, accessible only to a select few. The first floor also houses a training area, a fitness center, an employee lounge (which looks onto an outdoor courtyard) and a supply area.

Two evidence rooms — one for general evidence and another, more secure area for “valuable evidence,” such as currency, jewelry and drugs — are on the second floor.

A room with movable cabinets holding thousands of paper files also takes up space on the second floor. Access to floors three and four is restricted to investigators.
The fifth floor houses an emergency operations center, where crisis teams can monitor events in case of an emergency, such as the August 2007 Interstate 35W bridge collapse.

Inside, the building has some nice touches. Quotes from George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King and other famous Americans are etched in a wall across from an elevator bank. FBI employees’ photos of local attractions like Minnehaha Falls and the Gold Medal Flour mill decorate walls along the corridors.

A building that’s pleasing to the eye was part of the deal. But, as in all FBI buildings, aesthetics takes a back seat to security, Loven said.

A project summary from the Molasky Group says the building features “Level IV security” — the second highest of the five security levels developed by the federal government after the 1995 bombing of the Oklahoma City federal building. (The Pentagon is an example of a Level V building).

The design also includes a “progressive collapse structural system and blast-force protection,” Molasky said.

“The lessons learned from the 1995 Oklahoma City federal building bombing were taken to heart by the federal government,” Loven said.

“So when you see structures like these [new field offices] being built, they are built with blast-proof materials. The windows themselves are bulletproof. … You always want to prepare for the worst and hope you never put the structure to the test in that fashion.”

Security extended to the construction tasks. Workers had to go through a background check and were required to badge in and out every time they came and went from the construction site.

Communication was limited.

“They let people use phones, but if you had a phone with a camera they would put tape over the camera portion,” said John Campobasso, senior vice president of business development for Kraus-Anderson.

“They were very careful. Nobody could take photos of anything out there.”

And when crews worked on certain building activities, like pouring concrete, an FBI representative kept a watchful eye along with the building inspector to make sure it was done to the FBI’s specifications, he said.

Kraus-Anderson has worked on other secure projects, including a border crossing at Warroad, Minn., Campobasso noted. But it would be hard to find a project with more security than this one.

The construction team understood and went about their business, and the security just became “part of the protocol,” Campobasso said.

Not everything went exactly as planned.

Some non-construction-related delays on the front end set the schedule back. When the project was first announced in spring 2008, the plan was to start construction in spring 2009 and complete work in fall 2010.

One complication: The government had to switch gears in mid-stream after the original developer, the Atlanta-based Barry Real Estate Cos., could not arrange financing for the project, as previously reported by Finance & Commerce.

Molasky, a prolific developer of buildings for government agencies, then struck a deal with the U.S. General Services Administration, which oversees federal construction and leasing initiatives.

Molasky’s portfolio includes the IRS Headquarters in Las Vegas, the Clark County Detention Facility, and FBI field offices in Cincinnati, Portland, Ore., and Brooklyn Center, among other projects.

The FBI buildings will be LEED silver certified by the U.S. Green Building Council, Molasky said.

Preconstruction delays notwithstanding, the project itself went smoothly, Loven said.

“Once the project was greenlighted and the developer and builder were on board, it was on pace and it did meet the schedule,” he said. “Kraus-Anderson was very good; they met their timetables.”

The building will be named in honor of FBI agents Jack Coler and Ronald Williams, who were killed in the line of duty in 1975.

So far, employees are enjoying the new building, and “for members of the public who have been in it, they marvel at it,” Loven said. “It is something to marvel. It’s a very nice building.”

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