The Judicial Council of California, the policymaking body for the largest court system in the nation, announced plans Tuesday to build an eight-story, 24-courtroom “full-service justice hub for the North Valley District,” in Valencia, per plans on the state’s website.
The news comes as Santa Clarita residents await details on what’s next for the Valencia Town Center mall, which sits across the street from the planned courthouse site and was purchased for $200 million in 2023 with plans for a further investment more than three times that.
The address given for the 3.75-acre project is 26501 McBean Parkway, next to the McBean Regional Transit Center, putting the courts across the street from where Centennial is planning a commercial and residential investment that could exceed $850 million and add 2,200 homes.
The state has several listed goals with its plan, which is scheduled to be discussed at a public meeting next month.
“The purpose of the project is to consolidate court operations from the Santa Clarita Courthouse and the Sylmar Juvenile Court (three courtrooms), as well as relocating 19 dockets of caseload from other Los Angeles Superior Court courthouses to a new multiservice justice center in the Los Angeles Superior Court’s North Valley District,” according to the notice that posted this week.
The details available are listed in a public notice of preparation of an environmental impact report, a state-required document that looks at a project’s impacts, how those might be mitigated and project alternatives.
In addition to consolidating resources — for example, residents currently find themselves driving to either Chatsworth, San Fernando or Santa Clarita for a matter — the Judicial Council has identified replacing the 53-year-old local courthouse as a priority for years.
The project’s “stated objectives” note the courthouse is “rated as a FEMA P-154-rated Very-High-Risk seismically deficient building.”
Beyond that, the project promises to “improve public access to justice by providing a modern, safe, and accessible courthouse in a rapidly growing region of Los Angeles County” and relieve a space shortfall and increase security.
City officials said they were not aware of the plan’s details last year while they were developing their framework” for the mall’s development last year. The city has had previous negotiations in closed session involving the Judicial Council of California, according to the agendas available online.
“The state just notified us earlier this week of their proposal to put a courthouse on McBean Parkway,” Jason Crawford, the city’s director of community development, wrote in an email on Wednesday. “Since we are just seeing it now, we are just starting to review it.”
Asked about a September 2023 closed-session negotiation for 23743 West Valencia Blvd., the address for Santa Clarita’s Valencia Library, Crawford indicated the negotiation for the “address … on Valencia Boulevard is not related to this.”
A city can keep the status of any ongoing property negotiations confidential under state law.
Comment from Centennial was sought Wednesday morning, after news of the courthouse plan began to circulate.
The plan would replace three “inadequate and obsolete buildings” next door to the courthouse, and address nearly $13 million in seismic retrofits needed, and almost $5 million in deferred maintenance, which were both costs identified several years ago and expected to continue to grow.
The first mention of the plan as a priority came in 2019 and drew applause from the room full of judges, according to previous reporting.
A 2023 story reported the State Court Facilities Construction Fund had appropriated about $960 million since 2020 for improvements, according to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s 2023-24 budget. Included in that spending plan was “Los Angeles County: New Santa Clarita Courthouse” an item with $53 million total set aside — $41,749,000 for property acquisition and $11,301,000 set aside for “performance criteria” or improvements.
The gross construction footprint for the eight-floor structure, including its basement, was listed at over a quarter-million feet. In addition to two dozen courtrooms, the new building would contain judges’ chambers and courtroom support, court operations, family court services, a self-help area, IT offices, jury services, a sheriff’s area and building support areas.
“The new courthouse building would be constructed toward the northwest of the parcel, with parking to the east and south, including up to a four-level parking garage towards the south of the parcel,” per the plan.
The public notice indicates construction equipment “would be staged either on the project site or at a nearby location,” and “anticipated to start mid-March 2029 with construction completion by December 2031.”
The Judicial Council has planned a public meeting for 5 to 6:30 p.m. Nov. 12 in the Oak Room at The Centre, which is located at 20880 Centre Pointe Parkway.
This is a breaking news story, and more information will be added as it becomes available.
