School construction deal off in Foster City

Recognizing the price of building locally continues to rise, with no likely end in site, school officials said the deal’s demise came when they could not reach a cost certainty agreement with Westlake Urban.

“Unfortunately, the continued costly construction environment, especially in the Bay Area, and the uncertainty of further cost increases due to fires, demand for labor and the impacts of new tariffs have created a challenging situation for construction projects in general,” said Superintendent Joan Rosas in the memo. “At this time, Westlake Urban and the district have been unable to agree on terms that would limit the district’s exposure to further increases.”

Under terms of the new agreement, the school district will obtain the rights to the property, which Westlake Urban agreed to continue clearing, grading and mitigating damaged soil. School officials will also retain construction permits, which will be shopped for another round of bids, and hopes are to hire a new construction company next year, according to the memo.

For her part, school board President Audrey Ng characterized the most recent development as a victory for the district, as officials are now free to find their preferred builder.

“This is an exciting opportunity,” said Ng, who noted the district was initially interested in solely purchasing the site.

The district previously planned to purchase the property from Westlake Urban, then allow the owner of the shopping center at the intersection of Shell and Beach Park boulevards to build the school in a deal worth $61 million. With the new deal only for the land, spokeswoman Amber Farinha said officials will pay $30.1 million.

Financing for the project is provided through the $148 million Measure X bond, approved by voters in 2015 to building the new Foster City school, gyms across district middle schools and a new San Mateo elementary school, among other initiatives. Officials claimed the new Foster City school is necessary to offset enrollment hikes across the district, and the campus was expected to accommodate up to 460 students.

Officials have been grappling for years with the project budget, as financial overruns forced the school district to begin trimming designs in an effort to cut costs. In January, it was anticipated that the price tag floated nearly $11 million beyond initial expectations. Such a projection forced officials to back away from plans to build a wing housing five classrooms, in an effort to save about $3.5 million.

The construction deal falling through marks the most recent incident experienced by the project, which was also the target of a lawsuit brought by Foster City Councilman Herb Perez, alleging the district’s deal with Westlake Urban skirted public bidding obligations. The case was eventually settled, with the district expressing a willingness to participate in the city’s planning process.

Despite the variety of setbacks the project endured to this point, Ng characterized the most recent development as a step in the right direction for officials wishing to build the long-awaited campus.

“I think we’re at the point where we can just move forward and do this,” she said.

austin@smdailyjournal.com

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