City of Brentwood - Community Development - Redevelopment Division

Redevelopment Increases Public Safety: City of Brentwood Police Facility

Located in the City of Brentwood’s Downtown core and its Downtown Redevelopment Project Area, the police department facilities were inadequate to meet the department’s public safety responsibilities. The City leaders knew this inadequacy would only worsen as the city population grew and the Project Area’s revitalization continued.

A vacant site in the Downtown Project Area was identified for a new police facility and the City purchased it for this purpose. However, once the off-site improvement phase of the new police facility was underway, a situation presented itself that would not only resolve a number of issues for the Project Area and the City, but also provide revitalization opportunities in the Downtown.

Since 1995, US Print, a major employer of over 100 employees, operated its business from Brentwood. In 2003, U.S. Print filed for bankruptcy and abandoned their 10-acre property, located within the Downtown Redevelopment Project Area. The building and land went into foreclosure. The company removed its personal property and equipment, lowering the property’s assessed value by $11 million in one year.

The City purchased the property with 87,000 square feet of buildings to provide for future space needs of the City’s police department and rehabilitated the facility. This opened up two new sites - the current location in the Downtown Core and the original construction site - for private investment in the Project Area.

The Agency expects that private investment at these two high-profile sites will forward revitalizing the Downtown Core and act as a catalyst to implement the City’s Downtown Specific Plan. The old police station site will provide redevelopment opportunities more suitable for a historic town center district such as restaurants and retail than the existing obsolete building. The relocation of police facilities also reduces parking constraints in the Downtown Core, increasing the attractiveness of the Downtown as a destination locale.

The new police facility includes holding facilities, an emergency operations center, dispatch center, SWAT area, and evidence area including viewing capabilities. The exterior improvements include parking modifications, lighting, a plaza area, landscaping, and additional driveway and signage. California Highway Patrol shares the space as a substation in Far East County. The Redevelopment Agency contributed $2 million towards the new police facility.

“The new police facility site is one that will serve the local area and the City of Brentwood through the city’s build-out, and the city was fortunate to take advantage of the value of an existing building.” – Lt. Kevin King, co-Project Manager for the facility.

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