1. City deal to provide Social Security offices
Anna Foster | Posted: Friday, March 2, 2001 12:00 am
The Temple City Council Thursday unanimously approveda lease with the SPJST that will allow the construction of a new facility to
house the Social Security Administration offices currently locatedin the W.R. Poage Federal Building.
The city will lease SPJST property at 520 N. Main St. for $1 a year for 10 years.
The location near the U.S. Post Office in Temple is the site of state headquarters of the Czech heritage organization. A museum on the
property was established in 1970.
Under an arrangement with the General Services Agency, the city will act as the landlord for the building, City Manager Mark Watson
said.
He said the city would contract out landlordresponsibility to Public Facilities Investment Corporation,who would finance, build and
maintain the facility during the lease term for the Social Security Administration.
The GSA, on behalf of the administration, would pay rent to the city, which would then be passed on to Public Facilities.
The rent amount would pay for the building by the end of the 10 years.
At the end of the lease, which has a five-year renewal option, the SPJST would retain control of the building.
The city would be required to abandon an alleyway and relocate some utilities to accommodate the construction, at a city cost of between
$30,000 and$40,000, comingfrom its utility fund.
Assistant to the City Manager Redmond Jones said the target date for the project's completion is October, when the Social Security
Administration's lease on office space at the Poage building expires.
In December 2000, the city signed memorandums of agreement with the GSA and Public Facilities regarding the construction of new
facilities in Temple for the administration.
The GSA is looking for new facilities for the administration because they are no longer satisfied with the Poage building, city officials
said.
Watson said in December the Poage building is in serious need of renovations. It was constructedin 1976.