On May 12, 2020, Swinerton Management & Consulting (SMC) was awarded a contract for Construction Management Services at Laney College in Oakland, CA by the Peralta Community College District (PCCD) Board of Trustees.

The Laney program includes bond Measure G and state funded projects for a new Library and Learning Research Center, new Science, Technology, Engineering & Math (STEM) classroom tower, a theater modernization, new cooling towers, a Central Utility Plant restoration, Student Activities Center modernization, Student Welcome Center modernization, and multiple miscellaneous modernization and infrastructure projects.  The value of the program totals $300 million over the next five years.

The new Library & Learning Research Center is the first of the capital projects out of the gate with a state funding schedule to be under construction in the fall of 2021.  The $69 million three-story, 75,000-square-foot building will serve as an inspirational main entrance to the college from the south side of campus. The project is immediately challenged and complicated by an existing 36” water line and 40’ wide easement running through the middle of the new building, which will need to be relocated.  In addition, the existing cooling towers for the campus Central Utility Plant are also in the footprint of the building and will be relocated as well as the CUP needs to be restored to provide sufficient capacity to all of the campus and its anticipated new buildings.

The second urgent state-funded project is a $21 million modernization of the existing theater to correct comprehensive operational and accessibility issues and provide a new contemporary look to the 1960s building. The project is currently in Schematic Design phase and is scheduled to start construction in January 2022.

SMC submitted multiple iterations to changing proposal requirements to secure this great win.  SMC has built a strong relationship with PCCD through the efforts of Division Manager Jeff Gee and Project Manager Stephen Daniels, who have been successfully managing multiple miscellaneous projects at Laney since 2017.  The college’s confidence in SMC’s ability to execute projects was further reinforced on additional projects with Project Executive John Baker and Senior Project Manager Stan Wong.