Visioning the Northwood Parcel

TPD has conducted operations from the headquarters on Seventh Avenue since 1972. Over the past several decades, maintenance challenges and space constraints to support modern public safety services have continued to mount within the current building. The department has grown considerably in terms of the number of employees and the variety of services it offers to the community since moving into the current facility, which was originally designed for other purposes and is nearly 100 years old.

During an evaluation of TPD's current headquarters as part of its strategic planning process, it was identified that the future home for TPD needed to serve a much broader purpose and a new facility with community amenities was needed.

To meet operational needs and best serve the public, the City of Tallahassee began the process of selecting and assessing site options and gathering community feedback.

From 2018 to 2020, the City engaged in an extensive public outreach campaign to solicit input on the construction of the new TPD headquarters facility. In addition to the public comments provided during City Commission meetings, more than 700 emails were received. Multiple community meetings were also held.

Following this lengthy and robust community engagement process, the Northwood Centre site, which the City purchased at auction for $6.8 million in April 2019, was chosen to be the future home of TPD's headquarters.

Following the conclusion of the site selection process, staff embarked on the pre-design phase of the project, while continuing outreach to adjacent neighborhoods, schools and businesses. Pre-design included gathering technical information on existing site conditions, such as geotechnical data, traffic flow and land surveying. It also included updating the spatial needs assessment, originally conducted in 2017, to further refine plans with the goal of ensuring an efficient and cost-effective facility that would support both current and future needs.

• Finding a new headquarters to meet operational needs identified as a priority in TPD's 2016-2020 strategic plan.
• September 27, 2017 – Commission received a public safety update that included information about initial steps toward a new TPD headquarters
• Fall 2017 – Spatial needs analysis completed for TPD's headquarters
• December 6, 2017 – Commission received a public safety update that included information about the status of the spatial needs analysis
• January 10, 2018 – During its annual goal-setting retreat, the City Commission discussed its aim to identify and secure land, as well as begin the design process, for a multi-purpose community safety facility that would also be TPD's new headquarters. Staff was asked to explore potential construction alternatives for the facility on the south side of town to encourage better relationships between the community and law enforcement.
• February 28, 2018 – Commission unanimously voted to authorize staff to begin the Request for Proposal (RFP) process to acquire real estate for the new campus. The prospective location for the future public safety campus was identified as roughly 15 acres (as determined by a spatial need analysis) on the Southside along the South Monroe Street and Orange Avenue corridor.
• May 23, 2018 – Commission received a public safety update that included information about the status of the public safety campus. Commission voted unanimously to authorize staff to issue Requests for Qualifications (RFQs) for Architectural and Engineering Services and a Construction Manager at Risk for the proposed public safety campus.
• June 5, 2018 – The responses for potential sites were due on June 5, 2018.
• June 20, 2018 – Commission received a public safety update that included information about the status of the public safety campus. Following the issuance of the RFP, three proposals were received, reviewed and ranked based on cost of acquisition, project feasibility (i.e. location, surrounding land uses, access, etc.), acquisition plans and project schedule. The top-ranked bid was submitted by NAI TALCOR. Following discussion at the June 20, 2018, meeting, the Commission authorized staff to negotiate a purchase agreement with NAI TALCOR for 12.3 +/- acres currently occupied by the Towne South Center, located at 2525 South Monroe Street.
• July 30, 2018 – An RFQ was released seeking qualified vendors for the Architectural Design and Engineering for the new public safety campus.
• August 15, 2018 - A Solicitation RFP was released for a Construction Manager for the new facility. This bid end date occurred on September 20, 2018.
• September 12, 2018 – Commission received a public safety update that included the current status of the public safety campus.
• October 17, 2018 – Commission approved funding for the land acquisition and relocation assistance for current tenants of the Towne South Center.
• November 14, 2018 – Following a competitive procurement process, the City Commission approved acceptance of the Evaluation Committee's recommendation and authorized staff to negotiate a Construction Manager At Risk contract with Ajax Construction.
• December 5, 2018 – Commission received a public safety update that included the status of the public safety campus project.
• January 10, 2019 – The City hosted an evening meeting at the Walker-Ford Community Center, 2301 Pasco St., with Southside residents to provide updates on a variety of area projects, including the proposed public safety campus.
• January 30, 2019 – An agenda item before the Commission included moving forward with hiring an architectural firm to come up with designs for the public safety campus. Commissioners did not approve this and instead voted to have staff bring back dates and locations in February for two town hall meetings to gather additional community input on the project.
• February 13, 2019 – Commission and City leadership toured current TPD headquarters.
• February 18, 2019 – City hosted a Town Hall meeting at the Tallahassee Senior Center, 1400 N. Monroe Street, about the proposed public safety campus.
• February 19, 2019 – City hosted a Town Hall meeting at the Walker-Ford Community Center about the proposed public safety campus.
• February 20, 2019 – The Commission voted unanimously to abandon the Towne South Shopping Center as a site for the public safety complex and directed the City Manager to bring back, for consideration at the next commission meeting, a plan for a process that included gathering community input and providing recommendations for sufficient sites to locate said campus.
• March 6, 2019 – Commission approved the site selection process for the new public safety campus.
• March 18 to April 18, 2019 – This was the 30-day open submission period for the community to submit sites to be considered for the future public safety campus. All sites would be analyzed based on set criteria.
• The City received a total of 68 site proposals from the community.
• April 10, 2019 – During Sharing of Ideas at its meeting, the Commission unanimously approved participating in the auction for the Northwood Centre property bordered by North Monroe Street, Tharpe Street and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. The Commission, however, made it clear that ownership of the property does not predetermine it as the site for the facility and directed staff to adhere to the site selection process established at the March 6, 2019, City Commission meeting.
• April 15, 2019 – The City won the Northwood Centre property at auction for $6.8 million.
• April 24, 2019 – 68 sites recommendations were received for the new location of the Tallahassee Police Department's headquarters. Of those, 51 met the 9-acre minimum requirement and 19 were within 2.5 miles of the center of Tallahassee. At the meeting, the Commission received an update on the project's next steps.
• May 15, 2019 – At its meeting, Commission approves Resolution No. 19-R-18 to finalize the purchase of the Northwood site
• June 5, 2019 – Following a competitive procurement process, the City Commission unanimously approved acceptance of the Evaluation Committee's recommendation and authorized the City Manager or his designee to negotiate an Architectural and Design contract with Architects Design Group for the new public safety campus.
• July 10, 2019 – Commission received an update on the site selection process that included the scoring criteria used by the construction manager at risk to evaluate the 68 proposed properties, the preliminary scores awarded to the top 10 proposed properties and the next stages of public input that will be led by the architect, engineering and construction manager at risk team. Commission also directed staff to proceed with an evaluation of the short-term viability of existing structures on the Northwood Centre property.
• September 16 - 18, 2019 – After receiving considerable public input, applying the minimum required criteria and speaking with property owners, the following five properties were moved forward for consideration for the new public safety campus:
• Lake Bradford Road Wastewater Treatment Plant, 1815 Lake Bradford Road (City-owned)
• Current Tallahassee Police Department, 234 E. 7th Avenue (City-owned)
• Northwood Centre, 1904 N. Monroe Street/514 W. Tharpe Street (City-owned)
• Florida Department of Children and Families Complex, 1317 Winewood Boulevard
• Towne South Shopping Center, 2525 S. Monroe Street
• The City mailed 6,700 letters to property owners and tenants withing 1,500 feet of these properties and coordinated a broader outreach including the coordination of media coverage.
• October 16, 2019 – The short-listed properties were brought before the Commission for consideration. Following public input, the list was further refined to the top two sites. Both are City-owned properties, which will avoid any additional costs associated with land acquisition. The two locations were:
• Lake Bradford Road Wastewater Treatment Plant, 1815 Lake Bradford Road
• Northwood Centre
• November 18, 2019 – Community meetings dates announced to garner additional input from neighbors, as well as the community at large, for the top two sites being considered. At each meeting, the project architect would present potential site layouts and other ideas for both sites.
• December 2, 2019 – Community meeting for the Lake Bradford Road Wastewater Treatment Plan site held from 5:30-7 p.m. at Pineview Elementary School, 2230 Lake Bradford Rd.
• December 3, 2019 – Community meeting for the Northwood Centre site held from 5:30-7 p.m. at the Tallahassee Senior Center, 1400 N. Monroe St.
• December 4, 2019 – At its meeting, Commission approves issuing an Invitation for Bids (IFB) for the sale of the 1.68-acre Northwood/Enterprise parcel through competitive bid solicitation
• January 29, 2020 – Commission unanimously selected the Northwood Centre site to be the future home of the Tallahassee Police Department's new headquarters. This location was recommended by technical experts and the majority of the public who provided input due to its central location, accessibility and size.
• April 22, 2020 – At its meeting, Commission rejects bids associated with IFB-032-20-RT for the sale of the Northwood/Enterprise parcel
• August 19, 2020 – Commission receives update about the TPD headquarters project as part of the budget workshop presentation
• September 9, 2020 – Commission received a public safety update that included the public safety campus.
• January 13, 2021 – At its annual retreat, Commission received an update on Strategic Plan Objective 5F related to the future public safety campus.
• January 27, 2021 – Update on the Midtown Working Group at the Commission meeting included discussion of the future TPD headquarters and what to do with the current TPD headquarters site on Seventh Avenue
• March 2021 – Internal demolition and site prep process begins at Northwood site
• March 24, 2021 – Background about the public safety campus project was included as part of a City Commission meeting agenda item regarding the future Fire Station 17 on Lake Bradford Road.
• April 21, 2021 – At its meeting, Commission approves early lease termination agreement with Tallahassee Ballet
• May 19, 2021 – TPD headquarters project included as part of FY22-26 Capital Improvement Projects update at Commission Budget Workshop
• August 10, 2021 – Bulldozing of the former Northwood Mall begins
• January 12, 2022 – Commission receives update about TPD headquarters
construction project at its annual retreat as part of a review of progress toward Strategic Plan priorities
• January 20, 2022 – Community meeting held at the City’s Senior Center to provide an update on the TPD headquarters construction project and solicit public feedback on the Northwood master plan.
• January 26, 2022 – Commission receives update on the Tallahassee Police Department Headquarters Construction Project and Northwood Master Planning, while also voting to allow staff to begin negotiations to incorporate a performing arts proposal into the master plan
• February 2022 – The pre-design phase of the TPD headquarters building is completed and schematic design begins.
• March 9, 2022 – TPD headquarters project included as part of the budget workshop presentation to the Commission
• March 29, 2022 – Community meeting held at the City’s Senior Center to provide an update on the TPD headquarters construction and solicit public feedback on the Northwood master plan
• April 6, 2022 – Commission slated to receive update on the TPD headquarters construction project and the Northwood master plan, and authorize the negotiation of potential lease terms with the proposed Performing Arts Center
• April 2022 – Demolition of Northwood Mall anticipated to be complete
• May 2022 – TPD headquarters building Schematic Design phase anticipated to be complete and Design Development phase set to begin
• November 2022 – Road and utility installation/construction anticipated to begin at Northwood