Ready, set, construction at Portland City Hall
For more than a century, City Hall has served as home base for Portland’s city council – and the site of many historic decisions. Now, the biggest transformation in the building’s history is about to get underway. City council authorized a contract last month with Howard S. Wright to lead the modernization of council chambers and offices, and a variety of improvements to technology, security and accessibility. City Hall will look a lot different by the time the new council takes off next January!
Background
On Feb. 21, 2024, council approved agenda item 174, which allows the City of Portland Facilities team to immediately move forward to finalize the construction contract with the Construction Manager / General Contractor (CM/GC), Howard S. Wright, and begin construction work.
The Facilities team worked with the CM/GC team to establish Guaranteed Maximum Price (GMP) agreements for the expanded council chambers and refreshed downtown council workspaces. The Guaranteed Maximum Price (GMP) report, which defines the cost of construction, was presented to council and the report was accepted on February 21. The GMP report is separated into two parts: one section on council chambers, and the second on the councilor offices, mayor and city administrator offices, and major maintenance (deferred maintenance).
The project has embraced the City’s Regional Workforce Equity Agreement (RWEA) goals. RWEA is a collaborative effort between Public Owners and Unions to promote the use of local vendors, suppliers, contractors, subcontractors, and encourage the hiring of a local area workforce, which will return long-term community benefits. The RWEA includes provisions for an Equity Contracting Program, which focuses on expanding economic opportunities by growing both the demand and capacity of BIPOC and women-owned contractors and supports the creation of safe/anti-racist workspaces for women and people of color, in alignment with the City’s with core values of equity, fiscal responsibility, transparency, communication, collaboration and anti-racism.
Construction timeline and next steps
City Hall occupants have been notified of the following schedule:
| Early March 2024 | Finalize details in construction contract |
|---|---|
| Mid-March 2024 | Erect construction barriers and mobilize site |
| April 2024 | Begin renovations of council chambers |
| By June 21, 2024 | Mayor moves out of City Hall offices |
| By June 28, 2024 | Council moves out of City Hall offices |
| July 2024 | Renovations of council offices begins on 2nd and 3rd floors |
| December 2024 | Council chambers and offices anticipated to be complete |
When complete, the new council chambers will accommodate 12 new councilors.
View renderings of this work on our web page.