Work Starts on $110-Mil Courthouse

LOS ANGELES-Construction has started on a $110-million courthouse in the North County community of Lancaster, just one day after the project was approved by the Board of Supervisors.

Development duties will be handled by the LA office of MBK Real Estate Ltd., the US real estate development arm of Tokyo-based conglomerate Mitsui & Co. Ltd. The 370,000-sf, four-story facility at 421 W. Avenue M will have 15 courtrooms and room for six more.

Construction is expected to take about 30 months. In addition to the courtrooms, the building will provide space for the District Attorney, Public Defender, probation officials and the sheriff’s department. Pasadena-based Mosakowski, Lindsay and Associates has designed the building and Haskell Constructors Ltd. is the contractor.

“The total value for the site and building is $80 million,” MBK President Andrew Trachman tells GlobeSt.com. But, he adds, “The county will pay $30 million for furnishing the courthouse and off-site improvements, which brings the project’s total up to $110 million.”