Vanir Garners Slice of $8 Billion Calif. Prison Project

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Vanir Construction Management Inc. was selected by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to provide management services for the re-entry component of the state’s $7.7 billion dollar prison overhaul.

At an estimated cost of $2.7 billion, the secure re-entry facility component of the state’s prison overhaul plan calls for the phased construction of up to 16,000 new beds at 32 facilities throughout the state.

The secure re-entry facilities will provide comprehensive rehabilitation programming, such as substance abuse treatment, mental health services and vocational training, to prepare offenders for transition back into the community and reduce recidivism, officials say. Rolled out in two phases over 10 years, phase one will deliver up to 6,000 beds.

Designed to achieve LEED Silver certification, as mandated under the executive order of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, the local re-entry facilities will not exceed 500 beds, officials say. Only offenders entering the final 12 months of incarceration will be eligible for transfer to the facilities.

Enacted by Schwarzenegger in May 2007 with bi-partisan support from the state Legislature, Assembly Bill 900 authorizes $7.7 billion to build 53,000 beds in state prisons and local jails throughout California.

Under threat of federal intervention and stewardship, the legislation was implemented to enhance and expand rehabilitative programming, reduce overcrowding, renovate facilities, and improve conditions and services in a system that houses more than 170,000 inmates in facilities designed to accommodate approximately 100,000.

Under the terms of the agreement with the CDCR, Vanir will provide planning, design and construction management services. Vanir’s program management team will include representatives from DMJM H&N, the Louis Berger Group, Carter Goble Lee, the Criminal Justice Institute and J.R. Conkey & Associates, officials say.