DPA briefs JBC on Capitol Complex renovations; feasibility study finds converting 1313 Sherman to housing would cost tens of millions

The Joint Budget Committee heard a progress report on state Capitol renovations and a feasibility study that estimated major renovation costs for the Centennial Building at 1313 Sherman.

Tobin Follandweinder, deputy executive director of operations for the Department of Personnel and Administration, opened the presentation and turned the committee over to Richard Lee, division director for Capital Complex, and Caitlin Lucas, the Capital Complex architect, for detailed updates. Lee told the panel that "security upgrades have been completed," the annex at 1375 Sherman is occupied and that the Department is pursuing LEED certification for that building.

Lucas gave the committee a budget overview for the 'reducing the footprint' projects. She said the total program is "just over $96,000,000" in budget authority and noted the annex project has spent about $54.9 million of a $57.8 million budget. For the Centennial Building at 1313 Sherman she said the estimated cost for an office renovation is $120 million and that the program currently shows about $1.8 million available, yielding an $118.2 million shortfall.

Tom Curek, director of the state's Public‑Private Partnership office, summarized a recent feasibility study of converting 1313 Sherman into affordable housing and childcare. He told the committee the study concluded the building could yield roughly "111 to 147 affordable housing units and a childcare," but that conversion hard costs were estimated at "$91 to $111,000,000," not including soft costs such as financing, parking or transformer work. "When you add the soft cost…that is usually about 25 percent of the total cost," he said, producing a per‑unit figure in the neighborhood of $1 million per unit.

Committee members pressed staff on alternatives, including moving state agencies now in leased space into state‑owned buildings. Deputy Director Follandweiner said the conversion analysis is preliminary and the department is still considering whether agencies currently in lease space might be candidates to move into 1313 Sherman. He said final recommendations would be made to the Capital Development Committee and the Joint Budget Committee after a full appraisal of options.

The department also said it will provide additional information the committee requested, including a fair‑market valuation of the Centennial Building and further cost breakdowns. No formal decision was taken; staff offered to return with additional analyses and to provide tours of completed facilities on request.