The Floyd County Commissioners are entering a purchase contract for the Chase Bank building on Spring Street in New Albany. The building will be used for administrative offices. Brooke McAfee | News and Tribune
FLOYD COUNTY — The Floyd County Commissioners is buying the Chase Bank building in downtown New Albany for administrative offices. The commissioners voted unanimously Friday to enter a purchase contract for the building at 120 W. Spring St.
The county is buying the property for $8.6 million to use as an administrative annex. The plan is to move all taxing authorities except the clerk’s office to the building as it remodels or rebuilds the City-County Building as a judicial center.
Al Knable, president of the Floyd County Commissioners, said the purchase of the property “made sense” for all of these options. “We look forward to that being a pe rma nent fixture for administrative services,” he said. “It might take us five years to move everybody over, but once we get there, it’s a beautiful building... we’ll be proud owners of it.”
The county is focusing on creating more court space in the building on Hauss Square.
“We’re going to be talking about the expansion of the courts over the next decade, so we’re trying to empty out as much space in the existing building...,” Knable said.
The annex could include offices for the recorder, auditor, treasurer, surveyor, assessor and veterans’ services. It may also include some of the offices currently housed at Pine View Government Center.
The county will pursue bond financing to buy the Chase building. Knable said the projected cost of remodeling is $500,000 to $1 million.
The primary funding for these renovations will be through the cumulative capital development tax, as well as some American Rescue Plan funds.
“We are not anticipating the need for any tax increase to pay for this building,” Knable said.
The four-story building is 22,176 square feet. It includes 45 parking spaces with the potential for expanding to 70 if the drive-thru is removed.
The commissioners will determine details for transitional occupancy later this year, he said.
In addition to the bank, the building houses tenants such as the News and Tribune, Thieneman Construction, Clark Dietz and Wyatt, Tarrant & Combs.
Knable said the intent is to “honor those leases and have those burn out gradually over the next few years.”
“We’ll be getting some revenue from the tenants...that will be put into a non-reverting fund for building maintenance.”
Floyd County Attorney Rick Fox said a building corporation has been set up for the purchase of the building.
CITY-COUNTY BUILDING
Envoy, the county’s building representative, presented information on the City-County Building at Friday’s joint meeting with the commissioners and county council.
The presentation related to the condition of the aging City-County Building and the potential options for the judicial center project. The options include a partial remodel, a complete rehabilitation or a new build.
Recent studies showed that a “large amount” of asbestos” was identified throughout the building, and lead-based paint was found in multiple areas of the building.
A structural analysis also identified problems with the building such as slab cracking with water infiltration, and studies showed major issues with systems such as the HVAC.
Dale Davis, director of planning for Envoy, said a partial remodel would involve lower construction costs. However, this would be a phased project, and the areas that would not be renovated at first would still need renovations in the future, he said.
The partial renovation would include needed upgrades to mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems. It would also involve remediation of asbestos issues.
Complete rehabilitation would be the most disruptive of the options since it would involve gutting the existing building. It would essentially be a “brand-new building” with “all new everything” that uses the existing structure, Davis said.
The complete remodel would involve complications and costs related to the logistics, including temporary relocation, he said.
A new build would involve the most “cost control” with a shorter construction period, Davis said. If it was built at a different site, the county could continue to use the City-County Building until the new judicial center is ready.
Envoy projected that costs could be roughly $18 million for a partial remodel, $33 million for a complete rehabilitation and $35 million for a new build.
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