DATE: August 26, 2026
TO: Council Infrastructure & Airport Committee
FROM: Director of Public Works
SUBJECT Corporation Yard Needs Assessment Project Update
RECOMMENDATION
That the Council Infrastructure and Airport Committee receives and comments on this update regarding the Corporation Yard Needs Assessment Project.
SUMMARY
The City’s Corporation Yard was originally constructed in the 1960s and supports essential City operations including Public Works and Utilities, Maintenance Services, Fleet Services, Animal Services, and Hayward Police Department (HPD) functions. The City population has exponentially grown since then, the existing facility has aging infrastructure, inadequate space and outdated systems, and no longer meets the City’s current or future operational needs.
On April 22, 2025, City Council authorized a Professional Services Agreement with Griffin Structures (Griffin) in an amount not-to-exceed $230,000 to conduct a comprehensive needs assessment and site planning effort for the Corporation Yard. The scope included evaluating existing conditions, determining current and future space requirements, developing conceptual site designs, and preparing preliminary project costs and construction phasing.
Since that time, Griffin has worked with City staff and the different departments and divisions operating from the Corporation Yard to evaluate existing facilities and operational needs. The assessment included questionnaires, site investigations, detailed staff interviews, a facility condition assessment and development of current and projected space needs over the next 10 to 20 years.
Based on this assessment, Griffin developed three conceptual alternatives, Concepts A, B, and C. Following evaluation with City staff, Concept B and Concept C were selected for further development. Both selected concepts modernize the Corporation Yard while maintaining City existing operations during construction. The main difference between these two concepts is the configuration of the Primary Building, which consists of a renovated Animal Services Building, and the number of levels within the proposed new parking structure.
Concept B includes a second level within the Primary Building for the administrative area and a two-level parking structure. Concept C provides a single level Primary Building for all divisions and includes a three-level parking structure. The preliminary total project budgets are approximately $137.3 million for Concept B and $135.4 million for Concept C. Incidentally, the City’s currently adopted Capital Improvement Program used a placeholder budget of $140M for replacement of the corporation yard in the unfunded needs section.
At this stage, the concepts and costs are preliminary and intended to provide the City with a planning document for the future upgrades of the Corporation Yard. No funding for design or construction is requested as part of this update.
FISCAL IMPACT
There is no additional fiscal impact at this time. Based on the current conceptual designs, the preliminary total project budget is $137.3 million for Concept B and $135.4 million for Concept C. These amounts are planning level estimates and will require further refinement during the project design phases. The cost for this future project can be split between the City’s General Fund and Enterprise Funds because the Corporation Yard houses multiple uses.
BACKGROUND
The Corporation Yard is located on an approximately 7.9 acre site off Soto Road and primarily houses essential Maintenance Services and Public Works Utilities functions including equipment storage, maintenance activities and administrative offices. Other City operations including Animal Services and Police Department evidence storage also occupy the site. The existing Corporation Yard has aging infrastructure, inadequate space and outdated systems that affect current operational needs.
The Corporation Yard Needs Assessment was initiated as the first step toward developing a long-term plan for modernization of the facility. The project was intended to establish a roadmap for future improvements that would accommodate current staffing and operations while providing flexibility for future growth.
On April 22, 2025, Council authorized an agreement with Griffin to complete the assessment and master planning effort. Griffin's scope included assessment of existing site conditions and deficiencies, analysis of current and future space requirements, conceptual design, preliminary cost analysis and development of a phasing plan that would allow City operations to continue during construction.
DISCUSSION
Needs Assessment and Programming
Griffin began the assessment by gathering information from each department and division operating from the Corporation Yard. Staff completed questionnaires addressing existing operations, staffing, fleet needs, and current and future space requirements. Griffin also conducted site investigations and detailed interviews with individual divisions to better understand and identify operational and programmatic needs.
The assessment also included a facility condition assessment of the Primary Building, which currently houses Animal Services, Police Department evidence storage, Facilities, and Landscape divisions. The assessment evaluated the building's structural integrity and overall condition to determine its viability for long term Corporation Yard operations. Information from these efforts was then used to develop a detailed program identifying existing space and projected needs over a 10 to 20 year period. This planning horizon was used because it provides a reasonable balance between accommodating for future growth and maintaining reliable projections for staffing, fleet, and operational needs. A longer term project will have higher uncertainties with over-inflated needs and as demands, technology, and the City’s priorities evolve.
Parking Requirements
Parking is a key consideration in the development of the concepts as the site must accommodate City fleet vehicles, employee and visitor parking, and the space needed for storage areas and internal circulation. The assessment established a need for 376 parking spaces. Due to the limited area, the concepts incorporated a separate parking structure to reduce the amount of surface parking and allocated the space for other needs.
The City is also evaluating the potential acquisition of additional land adjacent to the Corporation Yard from Winton Middle School of the Hayward Unified School District. If additional property becomes available, site layout and parking configuration may be further refined to take advantage of the expanded area.
Following completion of the programming effort, three conceptual alternatives, Concepts A, B, and C, were evaluated with City staff. Concepts B and C were selected for further development because they separated Fleet Maintenance from the Primary Building and provided more space and flexibility for the remaining divisions. Both concepts use the existing 7.91-acre site and provide the facilities, storage, fleet maintenance, parking and operational areas identified through the needs assessment.
Concept A
Concept A renovates the existing Primary Building to accommodate Fleet Maintenance, Facilities Maintenance, Landscape, Streets, Water Distribution, Wastewater and Utilities, Water Pollution Control, and administrative functions. Most operational functions are located on the first floor, while the second-floor mezzanine is dedicated to administrative offices, employee training space, and breakroom.
The concept also constructs a new two-level parking structure providing a total of 376 parking spaces, consisting of 221 secured fleet spaces, 149 secured staff spaces, and six visitor spaces, which met the parking demand identified during the initial programming effort.
Concept B
Concept B builds upon Concept A by relocating the Fleet Maintenance facility from the Primary Building into the first level of the new parking structure. This provides additional spaces in the Primary Building for the other divisions occupying the first floor. Administrative functions would continue to occupy the second-floor mezzanine together with the employee training space and breakroom.
The new Fleet Maintenance facility incorporated into the first level of the parking structure would include standard and heavy maintenance bays, welding and work areas, storage, crew and locker areas.
Concept B provides a total of 391 parking spaces consisting of 236 secured fleet spaces, 149 secured staff spaces and 6 visitor spaces.
Concept C
Concept C provides generally the same operational functions as Concept B but changes the configuration of the Primary Building and parking structure. Under Concept C, the administrative functions are located on the first floor rather than on the second floor.
To accommodate this configuration and provide additional parking capacity, Concept C includes a three-level parking structure. The first level includes the Fleet Maintenance facility and 45 fleet parking spaces. The second level provides 99 staff spaces and 22 fleet spaces. The third level provides an additional 129 staff spaces.
Concept C provides a total of 495 parking spaces consisting of 241 secured fleet spaces, 248 secured staff spaces and six visitor spaces. Concept C provides 104 spaces more than the currently identified parking requirement to better meet future staffing and fleet needs.
Construction Phasing
Because the Corporation Yard supports essential daily City operations, maintaining continuity of operations during construction is a primary consideration. Griffin developed a preliminary eight phase construction approach intended to keep the Corporation Yard operational while improvements are under construction.
The primary objectives of the phasing plan are to maintain operations, minimize off site relocations, maintain parking throughout construction, minimize impacts from construction staging, reduce the overall construction duration, and maintain site security.
The preliminary phasing plan consists of the following:
Phase 1: Relocate HPD auction vehicles off site.
Phase 2: Renovate the south portion of the Primary Building.
Phase 3: Temporarily relocate landscape vehicles and renovate the north portion of the Primary Building.
Phase 4: Relocate fleet auction vehicles back on site, demolish the existing Utilities Building, temporarily pave the northeast lot and relocate fleet operations and stockpiles as necessary.
Phase 5: Demolish the existing Maintenance Building and prepare the site for the new parking structure.
Phase 6: Construct the new parking structure and Fleet Maintenance Building.
Phase 7: Demolish the existing Fleet Maintenance Building, construct new wash bays, complete adjacent site improvements and improve the northeast and northwest areas.
Phase 8: Complete improvements to the southwest administrative and visitor parking area.
For planning purposes, Griffin assumed a 48-month construction schedule using the traditional design-bid-build delivery method.
Preliminary Project Costs
Griffin developed preliminary project budgets for both concepts based on the current conceptual level of design. The budgets include construction, professional services and fees, furniture and special equipment, and project contingency.
Component Concept B Concept C
Construction $101,733,000 $100,275,000
Professional Services and Fees $15,780,000 $15,580,000
Furniture and Special Equipment $8,435,000 $8,365,000
Contingency $11,384,000 $11,225,000
Total Project Budget $137,332,000 $135,445,000
Concept B costs more due to the second-floor administrative addition to the Animal Services Building. Although Concept C has a larger three-level parking structure, the added parking cost is less than the cost of the second-floor addition. As a result, Concept B is approximately $1.9 million more expensive overall.
ECONOMIC IMPACT
Modernization of the Corporation Yard will improve the City's ability to efficiently provide essential maintenance, utility, fleet and other municipal services. Future construction of the project would also generate construction activity and the associated economic benefits.
STRATEGIC ROADMAP
This item supports the Strategic Roadmap to Invest in Infrastructure.
Specifically, this item relates to the implementation of the following project:
Invest in City Facilities and Property
Project N16: Provide the CIC with a needs assessment/preliminary feasibility report on a new Corporation Yard
SUSTAINABILITY FEATURES
Subsequent building design phases will explore sustainable design options to achieve LEED Silver certification or better, such as energy-efficient systems, renewable energy integration, and EV charging infrastructure in detail to align with the City’s sustainability goals.
PUBLIC CONTACT
The Corporation Yard Needs Assessment primarily involves City staff with no public contact. Staff from the affected departments and divisions have participated in questionnaires, interviews and programming discussions as part of the assessment process.
NEXT STEPS
Following input from the Council Infrastructure & Airport Committee, Griffin will complete the remaining work under the Corporation Yard Needs Assessment including final conceptual renderings for Concepts B and C and a comprehensive report documenting the assessment, programming, conceptual alternatives, preliminary phasing and project costs.
The conceptual plans and cost estimates will provide the City with a long-term planning framework for future Corporation Yard improvements.
Prepared by: Sammy Lo, Senior Civil Engineer
Reviewed by: Dave Hung, Acting Deputy Director of Public Works Recommended by: Alex Ameri, Director of Public Works
Approved by:
______________________________
Jennifer Ott, City Manager
https://hayward.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=7349057&GUID=13B440E1-5C73-4FDD-8877-D8C3FFE920F7 https://hayward.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=7349057&GUID=13B440E1-5C73-4FDD-8877-D8C3FFE920F7