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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2012-08-28 - AGENDA REPORTS - CONF CENTER MP (2)CONSENT CALENDAR DATE: SUBJECT: DEPARTMENT: Agenda Item: 4 CITY OF SANTA CLARITA AGENDA REPORT City Manager Approval: Item to be presented by: August 28, 2012 COMMISSION A MASTER PLAN FOR A CONFERENCE CENTER IN SANTA CLARITA City Manager's Office RECOMMENDED ACTION City Council approve commissioning a master plan for a conference facility in Santa Clarita by Kosmont Companies (Kosmont) in the amount not to exceed $75,000; appropriate $25,000 from the Tourism Marketing District fund balance to account 11305-5161.001; authorize the City Manager or designee to execute all contracts and associated documents, or modify the awards in the event issues of impossibility of performance arise, and execute all documents subject to City Attorney approval. BACKGROUND On March 13, 2012, City Council approved the Santa Clarita Economic Growth Program and directed staff to move forward with its implementation. Part of this plan included commissioning a master plan for a conference center in Santa Clarita. Staff has worked over the past few months to create a Request for Proposal to elicit a firm to execute this master plan. Staff has completed the RFP process and is recommending Kosmont as the consultant to perform the master plan. The RFP review committee scored Kosmont highly in all areas of judging criteria, including research, public participation, site selection, funding analysis, and reports and presentations. On October 27, 2009, City Council approved commissioning a feasibility study to be performed. by PKF Consulting. Their analysis, completed in 2010, concluded that there was sufficient demand for a 40,000-60,000 square foot facility that could be designed to meet the needs of the local community and regional business demand. This type of facility, which will attract a variety of events year-round, will play a major role in maintaining the vitality and health of the area's tourism industry through meeting, conference, and event attraction efforts. While the PKF feasibility study did include some feedback from stakeholders such as hotels, staff, and tourism partners, we will need to expand upon this process to include community outreach that will provide City Council with additional feedback as they make decisions. The Master Plan will also include extensive research and analysis, public participation for community, hotel and tourism partner needs, specific site selection and public and private funding options. Santa Clarita is one of Southern California's sought-after destinations, with more than three million travelers each year visiting Six Flags Magic Mountain. Santa Clarita's leisure travel business is weekend -based and supplemented by the area's growth in the corporate business travel segment. Santa Clarita is home to national and international companies in the biomedical, technology, entertainment, and aerospace industries, which regularly book meetings, conferences, and retreats at Santa Clarita's hotel properties, fueling mid -week business. As the area continues to grow, tourism will remain a strong and growing industry for the community and its businesses. Santa Clarita has consistently ranked among Los Angeles' top growing destinations according to PKF Hospitality's monthly E -Trends report, which tracks destination occupancy, hotel room rates, and area growth. Santa Clarita's growth in the tourism industry creates a demand for infrastructure development as well. For years, members of the Santa Clarita Tourism Bureau have expressed a desire for increased conference space, reiterating that this would help attract new business. Tourism partners believe that with increased space, which is currently limited to Hyatt Regency, Embassy Suites, and the City's Activities Center, Santa Clarita would attract more conferences, conventions, and revenue -generating tourism events, yielding increased sales tax generation. The City's Tourism Office, in cooperation with Santa Clarita Tourism Bureau partners, have solicited large-scale conferences and events in the past. Organizers have considered Santa Clarita, but chose alternate destinations because the area's facilities were not large enough. With increased conference space, Santa Clarita could support events that our local businesses host such as annual conferences and training seminars as well as events within Santa Clarita's other targeted industry sectors, including biomedical, technology, and aerospace. After reviewing all RFP responses, the costs ranged from $42,550 to $148,520, as follows: Convention, Sports & Leisure Minneapolis, MN $94,350 Hunden Strategic Partners Chicago, ]L $66,000 Kosmont Companies Los Angles, CA $109,500 Pacific Group Burlingame, CA $42,550 RJM Design Group Sacramento, CA $148,520 NO The review committee scored Kosmont Companies the highest for a variety of reasons, including their previous experience in working with the City's Redevelopment Agency; their Southern California location which provides easy responsiveness to project needs; their experience and creativity in getting projects funded in an unstable economic climate; and their knowledgeable subcontractors that have worked on projects such as the JW Marriott Conference Center at LA Live and research work that has already been done on Santa Clarita area hotels. Kosmont's initial price was $109,500. As they ranked the highest of all responses, staff negotiated with them a decrease in price to $75,000. The additional $25,000 above the original $50,000 budget is recommended to be provided via the fund balance of the Tourism Marketing District. ALTERNATIVE ACTIONS Other action as determined by City Council. FISCAL IMPACT Appropriate $25,000 from the Tourism Marketing District fund balance to account 11305-5161.001. All other monies were already appropriated in the Fiscal Year 2012-13 budget process.