Gwinnett County budgets additional $10M for records management center

The price tag to turn a former Ingles supermarket into a Gwinnett County records management center is going up by some $10.4 million.

The Board of Commissioners this week approved the additional funds to Hogan Construction Group for significant renovations to the defunct Lawrenceville grocery store. The overhaul will touch nearly every major mechanical and structural component of the building.

The county bought the store in 2021 for $5.2 million. Commissioners last year approved $6 million for some design and construction work at the Grayson Highway facility, including demolition and the building of offices and storage space.

But more work is required, said Ron Adderley, acting director of the county’s support services department. The building needs replacements to the roof, heating, ventilation, air conditioning and plumbing systems, fire sprinklers, and improvements to the lighting, foundation and structural steel.

The board unanimously approved a change order that brings the project’s current total budget to about $16.4 million. That only covers the work needed to relocate the records management center there, Adderley said. The county also needs to renovate another part of the facility planned for emergency management storage.

“We anticipate we will come back to the board for any future buildout of the remaining portion of the building,” Adderley said.