Hot Property: Crystal public works facility

Type: Public works building

Size: 63,000 square feet

Lot: 5.3 acres

Cost: $12.8 million

Architect: Kodet Architecture Group

Details: Plans to demolish a former Knights of Columbus hall and replace it with a new city public works facility along W. Broadway in ­Crystal were finalized this month with the approval of a conditional use permit and site plans for the $12.8 million effort.

The city this spring acquired five parcels in the 4900 and 5000 blocks of W. Broadway, including the now-vacant, 26,000-square-foot hall, which was built in 1959 and was last used by the Word of Faith Ministries. The cost of that acquisition was $2 million.

Also acquired was the former Metro Law Office at 5025-5027 W. Broadway for $450,000. Demolition is expected by July 25.

The new public works building, budgeted for $8.4 million, will measure 63,000 square feet and replace the city's outdated facility at 41st and Colorado Avenues N. Under Crystal's current plans, bids for the project are to be awarded next month with construction to begin Aug. 1 and completed by June 30, 2015.

The new building's design by Kodet Architecture Group includes offices, conference rooms and an employee lunchroom, 90-foot-wide drive-through vehicle storage bays, overhead cranes and vehicle hoists and high-speed energy-efficient doors.

High windows will maximize natural light throughout the building, which will be heated and cooled with a vertical-loop geothermal ­system, city officials said.

Don Jacobson is a St. Paul-based freelance writer. He can be contacted at hotproperty.startribune@gmail.com.