The City of Roswell is taking another major step toward the establishment of its new Public Safety Headquarters. During the Mayor and City Council meeting on March 24, 2025, Roswell City Council unanimously approved the award of a Construction Manager at Risk (CMAR) contract to Reeves & Young for the renovation of the Summit Office Buildings at 1080 Holcomb Bridge Road, which will house administrative offices for Roswell’s Police and Fire departments.
Roswell’s new Public Safety Headquarters is a crucial part of the City’s ongoing commitment to support first responders and enhance safety and responsiveness within the community. The City purchased the Summit property—which includes two buildings (Building 100 and 200)—with voter-approved bond funds in December 2024. The new headquarters will house the City’s Police and Fire departments under one roof, in a strategic central location that offers immediate service coverage for 20 square miles of the City.
The decision to purchase and renovate an existing facility, rather than construct a new building, represents significant cost savings for the City of Roswell.
“The purchase and remodeling of an existing property is a far more economical solution than constructing a brand-new facility. If the City had opted to build new, the projected cost would have been approximately $54 million, excluding land purchase,” Mayor Kurt Wilson explained during the meeting.
“Thanks to strategic negotiations with consultant Seer World, the City of Roswell secured the property for just $8 million—a remarkable $11.5 million in savings compared to the original asking price of $19.5 million. This also lets the City to stretch its bond dollars, helping to fund other vital public safety projects, such as the City’s new E-911 Center and the construction of a new Fire Station #27 in East Roswell.”
Mayor Kurt Wilson
The remodeling contract includes funding authorization in an amount not to exceed $613,267 to secure Reeves & Young for construction management services, with a total budget authorization of up to $5.7 million to fund the full project. Unlike a traditional design-bid-build method of project delivery, a CMAR is a more efficient method in which a construction manager is hired early in the process to oversee the project from design to construction close-out, acting as a general contractor with the responsibility of delivering the project within a predetermined budget.
As the CMAR, Reeves & Young will work in tandem with the City architect, Jericho Design Group, to coordinate and deliver all aspects of the design, estimating, permitting, and construction phases of the project on schedule and within budget.
Reeves & Young will specifically be managing the renovation of Building 100 for the Public Safety Headquarters, employing a phased approach that will accelerate the relocation of both the Police and Fire departments from their current locations and allow for quicker operational efficiency. Building 200, which is also owned by the City, will remain occupied by tenants for the time being, but will eventually be utilized by the City.
Remodeling the existing building—as opposed to constructing a new building—offers several advantages, including a reduced design and construction timeline, the avoidance of long lead times for construction materials, and faster permitting processes. In addition, the City will be able to make efficient use of the existing space in Building 100, as about 95 percent of the second and third floors of the building can be used without major renovations, maximizing space with minimal upgrades.
The first phase of the remodel includes installing IT infrastructure, making physical and aesthetic repairs, and restructuring the space for offices and furnishings. The City expects to start moving the first group of Police Department staff into the facility by late spring 2025. Renovations will continue to allow the balance of the Police force to move in by September 2025. The final phase of work will involve construction of kennel facilities for K-9 officers, locker rooms, and detention and processing areas, as well as installation of a generator. The City expects this final work to be completed by the end of 2025, which will allow the Fire Department to move into the new headquarters.
Background and History
The need for the City of Roswell to establish a new Public Safety Headquarters has been clear for many years, as both the Police and Fire departments have been outgrowing their current office spaces. For instance, the Police Department currently has over 160 employees cramped into limited space at their 39 Hill Street office, while the Fire Department has had to repurpose closets to house staff at its Hembree Road building.
In November 2022, voters approved $52 million in bonds for public safety projects, including the new headquarters. In summer 2024, after a thorough and objective assessment of nine potential sites, the City chose the Summit Office Buildings at 1080 Holcomb Bridge Road due to their ideal, central location, existing infrastructure, and its ability to accommodate the needs of both the Police and Fire departments now and in the future.
For more background and detailed information about this purchase, please learn more.