GSA awards lease for new US courthouse
Marianas Management Co. to build new facility
- Photo shows an artist’s rendition of the future U.S. District Court Marianas. (Contributed Photo)
- This artist’s rendition shows the building’s northeast corner. (Contributed Photo)
SAN FRANCISCO—The U.S. General Services Administration has awarded a 20-year lease to Marianas Management Co. for the construction of a new federal courthouse on Saipan.
This new lease was based on a competitive, best-value procurement process, according to GSA.
The three-story courthouse will be located on Gualo Rai Road, Garapan, Saipan, and will house the U.S. District Court of the Northern Mariana Islands, a U.S. Probation Office, the U.S. Marshals Service, the U.S. Attorney’s Office, and the Federal Protective Service.
The courthouse will include one courtroom, two judges’ chambers, a jury assembly room and office space for building tenants. Annually, the lease will cost approximately $2.4 million.
“Delivering public buildings representative of the federal government and serving the mission of federal agencies across the Pacific Rim is our mission,” said acting regional administrator Dan Brown. “We’re providing a modern facility with functional space and innovative technology to meet the operational requirements of the U.S. District Court in the Mariana Islands.”
The Saipan courthouse design, projected at 35,696 square feet, will meet current requirements for the judiciary’s functional and security needs. The design also incorporates innovative lighting and landscaping, energy efficient fixtures and wastewater technologies projected to realize future cost savings and conserve resources.
The courthouse will be in a planned office park.
Construction is scheduled to start in December 2017 and be completed in Summer 2019.
“While we have a wonderful landlord who remains responsive to all our requests, the district court’s needs have outgrown the Horiguchi Building,” said Chief Judge Ramona V. Manglona, U.S. District Court of the Northern Mariana Islands. “We look forward to the new courthouse that will meet modern federal judicial program standards as well as meet our security requirements.”
Since 1989, the district court has convened in the Horiguchi Building on Saipan. The current lease expires in July 2019.
The mission of the District Court for the Northern Mariana Islands is to serve the community by ensuring equal access to justice for all by providing an impartial forum to resolve disputes in a fair, effective and timely manner pursuant to the rule of law.
The District Court for the Northern Mariana Islands was established by an act of Congress in 1977 and became operational in January 1978.
The district court has the same jurisdiction to hear federal cases as U.S. District Courts, including bankruptcy cases. Appeals are taken to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. (PR)