Under the circumstances, there’s a silver lining to the $5 million in cost overruns of the Price Center expansion, according to University Centers Director and acting Assistant Vice Chancellor of Student Life Gary R. Ratcliff.

The expansion was initially $8 million over budget, but a contractor’s proposal to rebid and small redesigns will cut costs by $3 million, campus senior architect Jay W. Smith said.

In comparison to other campus projects — including Rady School of Management and Biomedical Library, which were both 30 percent over budget — the cost of the Price Center expansion has remained largely as estimated.

“It’s a seller’s market right now,” Smith said. “So it’s not bad, considering other projects we’ve run into over the last two years.”

Due to a “superheated” construction market, construction costs have gone up about 40 percent since 2003. The campus estimated only an 18-percent rise, which has left a large hole to fill, according to Smith.

The University Centers Advisory Board, which is spearheading the multimillion-dollar Price Center project, met April 7 to begin concocting a plan to bring the price tag within levels of the student-approved referendum passed in 2003, which will pay for the project.

UCAB remains confident that it can cover the extra costs of the expansion, Ratcliff said. UCSD Bookstore has already pledged funds for portions of the project.

“It’s better than the alternative [of] rebidding the whole project,” he said.

An entire rebid would severely delay the project’s timeline. In addition, the rising costs would make cutting the price tag difficult, Ratcliff said. Currently, construction has been delayed by about four weeks.