The City Council Monday night authorized City Attorney Richard Wade to make a formal offer to the federal General Services Administration, who owns the site at 8 S. Sixth St., to purchase the building for possible office space for city employees. . .
There is one stipulation attached to the possible purchase, Wade said. The city would have to enter into new, 15-year lease agreements with the current occupants, but wouldn't require them to stay that length of time. The city would receive revenue from the leases, Wade said, but would also be responsible for maintenance expenses.
Postmaster Jean Susnjar has indicated in the past that the post office may move to a new location, but no new information was available this morning. . . .
Council Bluffs leaders have decided to negotiate to buy the Federal Building at West Broadway and South Sixth Street.
Even if the city buys the property, the post office and other federal offices would stay.
The Federal Building has about 70,000 total square feet, of which about 20,000 square feet is not being used.
The city is looking for more space for city employees. One idea is to temporarily house city offices in the Federal Building when City Hall undergoes renovation work, scheduled for 2008-09. . . .
"Destiny is not a matter of chance, it is a matter of choice; it is not a thing to be waited for, it is a thing to be achieved."
. . . Â The U.S. General Services Administration, which has been managing the building for the last 40 years, plans to put the building on the auction block next Wednesday. The sale will take place in the bankruptcy courtroom on the building's third floor. . .
The GSA identified the property for disposal in 2006 and it went through the federal disposal process that included some negotiations with the city of Council Bluffs, said John Robinson, project manager and auctioneer with the GSA's Real Property Disposal Division. Since the agency was unable to get a deal made with state or local government, the building will now be sold on the open market.
"We're selling the property but leasing back space in the building for our tenants with a 15-year lease," Robinson said. "We'll be leasing back 48,151 rentable square feet of the building and paying $484,462 in rent per year to the new owner." . . .
"Destiny is not a matter of chance, it is a matter of choice; it is not a thing to be waited for, it is a thing to be achieved."
Expect to see some "green changes" in the federal building at Sixth and West Broadway.
A Seattle-based firm on Wednesday entered into a contract with the government to purchase the building for $1.3 million. The firm has 30 days to close the deal. . . .
A spokesman for the Seattle firm, who requested that his name and the company not be made public until the deal is closed, said the group that will run the building will be known as Green World Council Bluffs, L.L.C.
"In Seattle, we do a lot of green initiatives and would like to duplicate those initiatives in the federal building to set an example for the rest of the developers in Council Bluffs," he said.
Plans include solar panels on the roof, more efficient water usage in the building and motion sensor lighting, he said. . . .
"Destiny is not a matter of chance, it is a matter of choice; it is not a thing to be waited for, it is a thing to be achieved."