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12 <br />PROJECT PURPOSE AND <br />INFORMATION /SCOPE <br />ECS Carolinas ( "ECS ") was retained to assist Orange County in improving planning for <br />current and future use of Orange County facilities. The following tasks were included as <br />part of this work: <br />1. Review and updating the County's current use of space and departmental <br />assignments. <br />2. Review and evaluation of the County's current space use plan. <br />3. Performance of limited physical assessments of County facilities to provide a <br />consistent approach to identifying possible future capital improvements during the <br />next ten years and associated cost estimates. The costs developed do not include <br />additional public sector procurement costs. Costs were developed by using <br />RSMeans. <br />4. Valuation of current assets including a comparison of Orange County's cost per square <br />foot to operate their facilities and readily available full service lease market <br />rates. This evaluation is only applicable /provided for facilities where similar <br />commercial properties are available for comparison. <br />5. Providing data to assist Orange County in determining which properties are "stressed" <br />financially (presented in detail below), under- utilized, or have capital needs greater <br />than replacement cost. <br />INTRODUCTION /BACKGROUND <br />Orange County currently owns or operates approximately 798,000 gross square feet (GSF) of <br />space in 36 individual facilities. ECS observed the County's use of its available office space <br />in twelve County occupied /controlled buildings (did not include court system occupied <br />buildings). The County buildings designed or utilized for County specific uses (Jail, Animal <br />Services Center, etc.) were also not included within the space study portion of this report. <br />ECS conducted limited physical assessments of the majority of County facilities (32 of 36) to <br />evaluate the relative financial stress of the County's portfolio of buildings, and to provide cost <br />estimates for corrective work required in the next ten years (the typical capital cost projection <br />period used in the private sector). ECS also evaluated the relative financial stress of these <br />County buildings. <br />SPACE PLAN UPDATE <br />ECS' sub - consultant, Facility Futures, a space planning and use specialist performed the <br />necessary field work and analysis to provide direction for current and future space planning <br />by the County. <br />- 1 - <br />