Resources and News Atherton Town Center

The Town of Atherton is known for being the most expensive zip code to call home in America, so it may surprise you to learn that the Town’s City Hall was comprised of an old building and 8 portable trailers. Recognizing the need for a functional and welcoming space for civic activities and community engagement, the Town created plans for a new $60 million Civic Center Complex, complete with council chambers, a library, and facilities for town administration and police department.

Though planning for the Town Center began in 2012, the project broke ground in 2019. It was crucial to the Town to have complete stakeholder buy-in and community involvement. Plans were drawn and changed several times to ensure that the project properly represented the vision of Town Leadership, reflected and preserved the rich cultural heritage of the Town, and respectful of concerns expressed by adjacent neighbors and Town stakeholders. Interwest Project Manager, Marty Hanneman, has effectively and successfully formed important partnerships and wonderful relationships with Town residents and vocal stakeholders as he responded to their questions and found solutions to their concerns throughout the planning, design, and construction of the project.

Once the plan was agreed upon and construction started, the project faced an unexpected and unanticipated challenge: the COVID pandemic. Like so many construction projects this year, the Town Center was put on hold for several months as the Town adopted and implemented health and safety best practices. Eventually the project was allowed to proceed, as the Town Center will be an essential service building; even so, moving forward remained difficult as several of the required suppliers and tradesmen were not considered to be essential workers. Even though months of productivity were lost, it is a testament to the team’s determination and dedication that the project is still on schedule. Limited staff are expected to move in under a temporary certificate of occupancy in July 2021 with the rest following shortly thereafter in October.

Interwest is proud to be a part of this marquee project for the Town of Atherton. “We’re really pleased with how the project is progressing given the challenges we’re all facing with COVID,” said Project Manager, Marty Hanneman. “This project is going to be a real showcase for the community as well as for all of the contractors and the larger team delivering the project.”

Interwest has served the Town of Atherton since 2011 providing Municipal Engineering, Building and Safety, GIS, and IT services, as well as technical assistance and support to the Town Manager, Town Council, appointed Committees, and the community on programs, policies, activities and projects.