Pierce County just approved a $27 million building purchase. Here’s what we know
The Pierce County Council has approved the $27.2 million purchase of a downtown Tacoma office building, with plans to transform the space into a more consolidated county government building.
Pierce County announced earlier this month there was an agreement to purchase a 149,330-square-foot office space at 1501 Market St. for $27,271,000. The five-story building is currently owned by Regence BlueShield and was built in 1992.
In shifting the County Council, County Executive’s Office, communications, finance, IT, risk management, economic development, facilities and human resources departments into the newly acquired building, the current County-City building could become the Pierce County Justice Center and house more justice-related departments and courtrooms, said director of Facilities Management Karl Imlig.
In addition to the acquisition of the Market Street building, the county also would make improvements to the current County-City building.
On Tuesday, the Pierce County Council authorized the issuance of $50 million in limited tax general obligation bonds to finance the costs of purchasing the Market Street office building as well as renovations and improvements to both buildings.
The sale is expected to close in October, and departments should move in by 2025, according to a news release issued by Pierce County.
Pierce County’s purchase agreement comes after a growth study predicted the 64-year-old County-City Building would not be able to accommodate the increased needs for court- and justice-related services in the next 20 years. The cost of planning, designing and building a new office space on county-owned property near the County-City Building was estimated to take six years and cost between $80 million to $120 million, according to the agenda packet.
Several administrative departments have already relocated out of the building due to space issues, Imlig told the News Tribune in early May.
