Los Angeles City College Proposition A/AA/J $602 Million Bond Program

The Los Angeles City College $602 million bond program will ultimately bring spacious new facilities, much needed building and central plant upgrades, and a host of attractive landscape/hardscape features for students and staff.

The final project will feature the construction of nine new structures, including the award-winning and LEED Gold-certified Green Technology Student Union Building completed in 2011. As of August 2014, the Student Union and four other projects were DSA Certified:

• MLK Library
• Child Development Center
• RWGPL-Central Plant
• Site utilities infrastructure

The College chose Harris & Associates to provide campus-wide project and construction management services related to the bond program and its $69 million new northeast satellite campus. Harris has spearheaded progress to date with specific attention to program and design management, contract administration, procurement, project controls, and financial and program reporting.

For the Student Union, Harris served as construction manager from pre-design to closeout, managing lines of communication between all project parties and keeping this centerpiece project on schedule and within budget.

Core Elements

Harris has managed the work on:

• Nine newly constructed campus buildings, with eight slated for LEED Certification (four of them Gold) under the District’s sustainable building program
• A 2,000-car parking structure with a rooftop track and field complex
• Nine modernization projects
• Extensive upgrades to the campus central plant, with all-new underground utilities
• Campus-wide sustainability features targeting water efficiency, reduced energy consumption, low thermal mass concrete structures, solar panels and enhanced indoor air quality

Beyond the Blueprints

The Los Angeles Community College District’s sustainable building program is one of the nation’s largest green construction efforts, and environmental sustainability was a key priority for Harris across all project-related activities.

For the Student Union alone, Harris used natural daylight to light 75% of the building, reducing dependency on electricity. Water consumption is expected to drop by 40%, and energy savings will be 20% greater than the current state requirements due to a new heating and cooling system. In addition, Harris diverted 75% of construction waste away from landfills.