HomeMy WebLinkAboutCED Northgate Mall Redevelopment Project Environmental Consulting Services____________________________________________________________________________________
FOR CITY CLERK ONLY
Council Meeting: June 17, 2024
Disposition: Authorized the City Manager to execute the second amendment to the professional
services agreement with LSA Associates, Inc. for environmental consulting services associated
with the Northgate Mall Redevelopment Project, in the amount not to exceed $175,895, for a total
not to exceed contract amount of $510,851
Agenda Item No: 4.b
Meeting Date: June 17, 2024
SAN RAFAEL CITY COUNCIL AGENDA REPORT
Department: Community & Economic Development
Prepared by: April Talley, Project Director City Manager Approval: ______________
TOPIC: NORTHGATE MALL REDEVELOPMENT PROJECT ENVIRONMENTAL CONSULTING
SERVICES
SUBJECT: AUTHORIZE THE CITY MANAGER TO EXECUTE THE SECOND AMENDMENT TO
THE PROFESSIONAL SERVICES AGREEMENT WITH LSA ASSOCIATES, INC. FOR
ENVIRONMENTAL CONSULTING SERVICES FOR THE NORTHGATE MALL
REDEVELOPMENT PROJECT IN AN AMOUNT OF $175,895, FOR A TOTAL
CONTRACT AMOUNT OF $510,851.
RECOMMENDATION:
Staff recommends that the City Council Authorize the City Manager to execute the second amendment
to the professional services agreement with LSA Associates, Inc. for additional environmental consulting
services associated with the Northgate Mall Redevelopment Project, in the amount not to exceed
$175,895, for a total not to exceed contract amount of $510,851.
BACKGROUND:
The Northgate Mall is a 44.76-acre site consisting of six parcels (APNs: 175-060-12, -40, -59, -61, -66 &
67). Originally opened in 1965 with The Emporium as its original anchor tenant, the Mall is currently
developed with 766,512 square feet of commercial space, surface parking lots, and one parking garage
structure. In 2017, Melone Geier acquired the project site and, in March 2021, filed an application for the
phased redevelopment of the Mall through the demolition of most of the mall structure including the Sears,
Macy's, and Kohl's anchor buildings, redevelopment of commercial spaces, the construction of new
commercial pads at the northern periphery of the property, construction of new structured and surface
level parking facilities, development of approximately 1,422 multi-family dwelling units, and new
community open space and amenities. The applicant proposes to complete this redevelopment in two
phases pursuant to its 2025 Master Plan and 2040 Vision Plan.
The project will require environmental review pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act
(CEQA). In September 2021, following a Request for Proposal (RFP) process, staff selected the firm of
SAN RAFAEL CITY COUNCIL AGENDA REPORT / Page: 2
LSA Associates, Inc. (“LSA”) as the consultant to prepare an Environmental Impact Report (EIR) for the
Northgate Mall redevelopment project. LSA’s scope of work for services is outlined in Attachment 1. A
summary of this scope is provided as follows:
Finalize Draft Environmental Impact Report. Preparation of an EIR is laid out in tasks from project
initiation; technical study peer review; preparation of setting, impacts, and mitigation measures
for CEQA topics; identification and evaluation of alternatives; preparation of appropriate
conclusions to fulfill CEQA requirements by providing an assessment of several mandatory
impact categories; and responding to public comments.
Schedule/Timeline. LSA anticipates completion of the CEQA process with a Final EIR within 3
months of the City’s execution of the amendment.
Budget. The contract amendment is proposed with a not-to-exceed amount of $175,895 and
captures additional scope items and tasks to complete the Final EIR. See Attachment 2 for scope
and cost details.
ANALYSIS:
City Staff have been working to coordinate the Draft Environmental Impact Report for the Northgate Mall
Redevelopment Project. The City, along with LSA, issued the Draft Environmental Impact Report on
January 5, 2024. The public comment period began on January 5th and ended on March 5, 2024. LSA
has begun to enumerate and bracket public comments based on CEQA relevancy and will respond to
comments in the Final Environmental Impact Report. Upon completion, the Final Environmental Impact
Report will be presented to the Planning Commission for acceptance.
The second amendment to the professional services agreement will support the completion of the
outstanding administrative tasks associated with finalizing the Final Environmental Impact Report.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The proposal from LSA to finalize the Draft Environmental Impact Report totals $175,895. This would
increase the total contract amount to $510,851.
The funds needed to cover the cost of these services will be covered by the project applicant as agreed
upon in their executed Reimbursement Agreement.
OPTIONS:
The City Council has the following options to consider on this matter:
1. Authorize the City Manager to execute the contract amendment.
2. Do not authorize the City Manager to enter into the agreement and provide further direction to
staff.
3. Take no action.
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
Staff recommends that the City Council:
Authorize the City Manager to execute the second amendment to the professional services agreement
with LSA Associates, Inc. for additional environmental review services associated with the Northgate
Townsquare Project, in the amount not to exceed $175,895, for a total not-to-exceed contract amount of
$510,851.
ATTACHMENTS:
1. Second Amendment to the Professional Services Agreement with LSA Associates for
SAN RAFAEL CITY COUNCIL AGENDA REPORT / Page: 3
environmental review services.
2. LSA Scope and Cost Proposals
SECOND AMENDMENT TO THE PROFESSIONAL SERVICES AGREEMENT WITH
LSA ASSOCIATES, INC. FOR ENVIRONMENTAL CONSULTING SERVICES FOR
THE NORTHGATE MALL REDEVELOPMENT APPLICATION
THIS SECOND AMENDMENT to the Professional Services Agreement by and
between the CITY OF SAN RAFAEL (hereinafter "CITY"), and LSA ASSOCIATES, INC.
(hereinafter "CONSULTANT"), is made and entered into as of Jul 22, 2024
RECITALS
WHEREAS, the CITY and CONSULTANT entered into a Professional Services
Agreement dated December 3, 2021 to perform professional services in connection with CITY'S
Northgate Mall Redevelopment Application project, for an amount not to exceed $260,350 (the
"Agreement"); and
WHEREAS, the CITY and CONSULTANT entered into a First Amendment to the
Professional Services Agreement dated November 16, 2023 to perform additional professional
services in connection with CITY'S Northgate Mall Redevelopment Application project, for an
amount not to exceed $74,606 and increasing the total not to exceed under the Agreement to
$334,956; and
WHEREAS, CITY requires additional professional services from the CONSULTANT,
and the CONSULTANT is willing to provide such services.
AMENDMENT TO AGREEMENT
NOW, THEREFORE, the parties hereby agree to amend the Agreement as follows:
1. Article II of the Agreement, entitled "DUTIES OF CONSULTANT" is hereby
amended to include the additional services set forth in CONSULTANT's
proposals dated February 7, 2024 and June 6, 2024, attached to this Second
Amendment as Exhibit A and incorporated herein by reference.
2. Article IV of the Agreement, entitled "COMPENSATION" is hereby amended to
include additional compensation payable to CONSULTANT for the services
described in Exhibit A to this Second Amendment, on a fixed fee basis in
accordance with the Exhibit A, in a not -to -exceed amount of $175,895, and to
change the total not -to -exceed amount under the Agreement to $510,851.
1
3. Except as specifically amended herein, all of the other provisions, terms and
obligations of the Agreement between the parties shall remain valid and shall be
in full force.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the parties have executed this Second Amendment on the
day, month, and year first above written.
CITY OF SAN RAFAEL
L A
Cristine A(ilovich (Jul 22, 202415:51 PDT)
CRISTINE ALILOVICH, City Manager
ATTEST:
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LINDSAY LARA, City Clerk
APPROVED AS TO FORM:
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Robert F. Epstein (Jul 16.20I4 13:3D PDT)
ROBERT F. EPSTEIN, City Attorney
2
CONSULTANT
By:
Name: Anthony Petros
Title: CEO
[If Contractor is a corporation, add signature
of second corporate officer]
By; —h-4��
Name: Amy Fischer
Title: President
LSA
February 7, 2024
April Talley
Project Director
City of San Rafael
1400 Fifth Avenue
San Rafael, CA 94901
Exhibit A
CARLSBAD
CLOVIS
IRVINE
LOS ANGELES
PALM SPRINGS
POINT RICHMOND
RIVERSIDE
ROSEVILLE
SAN LUIS OBISPO
Subject: Northgate Mall Redevelopment Project Environmental Review - Contract Modification
Request #4
Dear April:
The purpose of this letter is to formally request a Contract Modification for the Northgate Mall
Redevelopment Project environmental review process, which was initiated in October 2021. LSA is
requesting additional funds to cover additional labor hours incurred to prepare and finalize the Draft
EIR for public review on an expedited schedule. The level of effort exceeded the budget for this task
for the following reasons:
1. LSA was asked to prepare an Alternatives analysis that evaluated the Merrydale Connection
as a possible potential future addition to the project; this alternative was later discarded
after LSA completed the analysis and replaced with a new alternative, requiring substantial
revision and additional rounds of review on the Draft EIR Alternatives chapter.
2. Comments received from the City and the applicant team on the Screencheck and
Printcheck Draft EIR versions occasionally conflicted and required additional discussion,
meetings, and follow ups, in addition to revisions by senior LSA technical and document
management staff to various EIR chapters after some sections were already deemed
complete.
3. Delays in receiving adequate technical studies from the applicant team (most notably the
Noise Technical Study) required additional coordination and reviews of the Draft EIR Noise
chapter prior to publication.
4. Additional level of effort required by LSA's senior management and technical experts to
complete the Draft EIR on an accelerated timeline. Per our last contract modification
request, it was assumed that the Draft EIR would be published in late November 2023.
However, this date was pushed to January 2024 for a variety of reasons. Senior LSA staff (at
higher billing rates) continued to coordinate and work on the document during this period
as the project timeline and status did not allow for junior level staff (at lower billing rates) to
be included in the work effort.
For the additional level of effort outlined above, LSA is requesting additional funds in the amount
of $18,000, for a total contract amount of $352,956. LSA also understands that the City will be
seeking an expedited schedule for completion of the Final EIR, the schedule for which will be
evaluated after the close of the comment period on February 19. Some of these additional funds
2/7/24 (P:\CSR2001.03 Northgate\ADMIN\Contract\Northgate EIR_ConMod4_020624.docx)
157 Park Place, Pt. Richmond, California 94801 510.236.6810 www.Isa.net
Exhibit A
LSA
may be put towards that expedited effort or additional funds may be requested as LSA anticipates
that senior level staff may be needed to complete the responses to public comments in order to
meet the desired timeframe.
We would be glad to discuss this request further if you have any questions or suggestions. We
request that written authorization for the requested contract modification be provided at your
earliest possible convenience.
Sincerely,
LSA Associates, Inc.
TkuluwaLlmb
Theresa Wallace, AICP
Principal
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LSA CARLSBAD
CLOVIS
IS
RVINE
LOS ANGELES
PALM SPRINGS
POINT RICHMOND
RIVERSIDE
ROSEVILLE
SAN LUIS OBISPO
June 6, 2024
April Talley
Project Director
City of San Rafael
1400 Fifth Avenue
San Rafael, CA 94901
Subject: Northgate Mall Redevelopment Project Environmental Review - Contract Modification
Request #5 to Complete the Final Environmental Impact Report
Dear April:
The purpose of this letter is to formally request a Contract Modification for the Northgate Mall
Redevelopment Project environmental review process, which was initiated in October 2021. LSA is
requesting additional funds to respond to public comment and prepare and finalize the Final EIR for
certification. As of the Draft EIR comment period close on March 15, 2024, approximately 260
comment letters have been received. While the majority are brief one -page submissions that
include 1 to 5 individual comments requiring a response that cross references more substantive
earlier comments and responses, approximately 20 of the letters submitted include detailed
comments on technical items that require additional research and analysis in order to provide a
thorough response. A number of these letters were submitted by law firms representing various
public interest groups and organizations. These 20 letters alone comprise approximately 175
discrete comments. LSA estimates a total of approximately 500 total comments were received on
the Draft EIR.
The original contract assumed a placeholder budget of $18,230 to prepare the Administrative Draft
Response to Comments Document and a total budget of $29,605 for the entire Final EIR effort.
Based on LSA's experience in preparing responses to comments and Final EIRs for similar large-scale
projects subject to intense public scrutiny, LSA assumes an average cost of $375 to respond to an
individual comment; this takes into account reviews of each comment by planning and technical
staff as necessary, bracketing of comments, organization and coordination with team members on
draft responses, drafting of responses, revisions as needed, and QA/QC by LSA's document
management staff. The use of master responses and cross-referencing is also assumed. This also
assumes additional meetings and coordination with the project team, as well as up to two rounds of
consolidated reviews by the City.
Assuming a total of 500 comments at an average cost of $375 per comment; LSA's cost estimate to
complete the Response to Comments Document is $187,500. Please note that to date, and through
submittal of the Administrative Draft of responses to all agency and organization comments, LSA has
expended approximately $116,605. This includes organization, bracketing and drafting of responses
to all other comments. LSA is currently in the process of finalizing the responses to the individual
comments and the public hearing transcript comments for submittal to the City for review.
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157 Park Place, Pt. Richmond, California 94801 510.236.6810 www.Isa.net
LSA
Given the above, LSA is requesting a contract modification in the amount of $157,895 to complete
the Final EIR for the Northgate Mall Redevelopment Project. This would bring the total contract
amount to $510,851.
We would be glad to discuss this request further if you have any questions or suggestions. We
request that written authorization for the requested contract modification be provided at your
earliest possible convenience.
Sincerely,
LSA Associates, Inc.
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Theresa Wallace, AICP
Principal
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