Established in 1981, the State of Utah’s Division of Facilities Construction and Management (DFCM) has been among the state’s most prominent owners—public or private—with stewardship of an eye-popping 3,900 buildings across Utah. The agency finds itself as busy as ever on the heels of completing the 2022 Utah Legislative session, which saw legislators poring over dozens of project requests as they tried to figure out the best way to divvy up some $2 billion in funding. “This legislative session was pretty crazy,” said DFCM Director Jim Russell on March 18 at a presentation to the AGC of Utah in Salt Lake City. “They ended with about a $2 billion surplus to spend and they had $6 billion in requests, so it was a little difficult to manage this year. There were projects popping up in virtually every committee. We were scrambling trying to make sure we had an adequate budget for all the projects presented. Overall, we got about $1.8 billion in projects, so that’s good news for the local [construction] community.” Russell said DFCM currently has 469 active projects totaling more than $4.3 billion, a sizable number to say the least. One of the most prominent of those projects is a new $210-million North State Capitol Building, a CM/GC project currently in design that received $68 million in new money to get it fully funded. DFCM employees moved out of their former home near the Utah State Capitol in January 2020 to clear the site for demolition and reconstruction. They have been patiently dealing with the challenges of remodeling the new digs in West Valley City, the site of a former American Express call center that is a $107 million total project—$30 million for the building/land purchase, $77 million in renovation costs. That number is a far cry from the originally projected $335 million price tag that had been estimated. Plus, Russell said it consolidates myriad State of Utah agencies (13 total) into one building, totaling some 765 state employees (DFCM has close to 200 employees). “They’re remodeling around us; for some reason, the only place they ever work—hammering and drilling—is right above my desk,” Russell joked during an interview in mid-January. “It was completely gutted—it’s about as deep of a remodel as you can do. It’s going to be an open space concept. This helps with hiring and retention and for us to be somewhat competitive. Your [office] spaces factor into what people are looking for. We’re vacating four buildings and at least that many leases and moving everyone into this one facility.” As Russell mentioned, business is brisk and expected to keep rolling with the agency’s 700-project, $4-billion backlog. “It’s been like this the past few years,” he shrugged. He’s been with the DFCM for nearly two decades and has seen budgets grow with the population increases. “15 years ago, we were doing $2 billion [annually].” “It’s an exceptionally busy time given the amount of work we have and other constraints,” said Matt Boyer, Assistant Director for Capital Development. Russell acknowledged the solid working relationship and partnership that exists between DFCM and A/E/C firms. He and his staff understand the value that designers and contractors bring to the equation. “We feel we have a good working relationship with our A/E/C community,” he said. “We’re grateful for the partnership and for what you do. There is a lot of confidence in what we do, and we can’t do that without you. We have great designers, great contractors, and great subs that take pride in what they do.” Higher Education Remains Priority Utah’s youthful demographics—far and away the lowest median age in the country (31.2; the average is 38.5)—has been a driving factor in spurring new buildings on university and technical college campuses to keep up with projected demands over the next 20 years. Russell showed a list of 12 higher ed/tech college projects either in planning/programming or design that received a combined $600 million in state funding, led by $120 million each for the Utah Valley University (UVU) Engineering Building and the University of Utah (U of U) Computing & Engineering Building, $80 million to the Utah State University (USU) College of Veterinary Medicine, and $56 million to a Utah Technical University General Classroom Building. Nine other non-state-funded higher education projects totaling $640 million were also listed, including the much-anticipated $400-million U of U West Valley Health and Community Center. Other key projects on that list include the $62-million U of U Indoor Practice Facility, Campus View Suites Phase III at Utah Technical University (UTU), and nearly $48 million for the U of U’s Kahlert Village Fourth Wing. Russell also mentioned $191 million in state funding that will be directed to approximately 400 DFCM Capital Improvement Projects, of which 80 are delegated between USU and the U of U. One other noteworthy project at the U of U getting closer to being fully funded is the nearly $400-million School of Medicine, which has been funded to $285 million so far. Material price increases are necessitating another $60 million from the state and more from private donors. Russell admits that occasional critics will guffaw about what they feel are exorbitant costs for certain higher education projects—“Sometimes we get accused of building Taj Mahals”—but he remains steadfast that DFCM does its best to earn the trust of legislators and the public in general. There have been recent discussions on doing more renovations and repurposing old buildings on school campuses, rather than building completely new structures. With all signs pointing to projects just getting more costly due to material spikes, supply chain shortages, and rising inflation, there is a chance the legislature could halt construction funding for 2023 on some or all major projects. “Some projects are over budget; if costs keep going up, the legislature may not want to build any more buildings. It’s important to get our arms around it,” said Russell, adding that since 2015 there has been a 38% escalation in project costs, with last year at 13% and this year projected again at 13%. “Prices are significantly higher—we always battle that. If the legislature paused [construction funding] for a year or two, that would have an obvious [negative] effect on our economy.”