New bid for moving state offices into Jackson’s CBD passes first test
The bulk of the savings would come from reducing the average square-feet of office space per state employee from a current 321 to the federal benchmark of about 221.
The initial target for relocation into the Central Business District are the 692 state employees who occupy 221,245 square foot of office space under 26 different leases in metro Jackson outside the several-mile Capitol Complex. The leases carry a weighted rental rate of $14.03 a square-foot, according to a leasing study presented to the committee Monday.
The idea is to move them into leased space in eight privately owned office buildings in the CBD, which in total has about 471,000 square feet of empty space, mostly in buildings rated class B and C.
The need for landlords to fill that space could get the state attractive lease rates, the leasing study predicts.
This likelihood is reflected in recent state lease deals in the CBD that included 26,021 feet of office space in Regions Plaza for the State Personnel Board at $12.19 a square-foot; 42,130 square feet in Region’s Plaza for the Department of Finance & Administration for $12.50 a square foot; and 32,000 square feet in Capitol Towers for the Secretary of State’s annex office for $11 a square foot.
MBJ
1/28/14
Magnolia Tribune
