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Council hears Pope Block maintenance costs and warns: relocating building data-center fiber could cost millions
Summary
Public Works described roughly $1 million per year in maintenance for the city-owned Pope Block and warned that the building's data-center fiber interconnections are the most costly obstacle if the city seeks to sell or relocate services; council asked staff to estimate fiber-relocation costs and lease strategies.
Public Works Director Andrew Hayes briefed Pueblo City Council on the city-owned Pope Block building and urged council to weigh maintenance costs, tenant lease terms and the building's on-site data center before deciding whether to sell or retain the property.
Hayes said the city's operating and maintenance expense for the building ran on the order of a million dollars per year to cover preventive maintenance, utilities and periodic corrective repairs. He listed recent capital work (roof membrane replacement, fire-alarm replacement, chiller replacement and elevator repairs) and noted the building's elevators and a subsurface tributary under the site require ongoing attention.
Most of the council's questions focused on the data center and fiber infrastructure. "Relocating equipment from the data center is not a big deal, but the fiber connections to it would be substantial," Hayes warned, and said rerouting city and commercial fiber would likely be the largest expense if the city moved IT operations out of the building.
Hayes listed current tenants (including a private-network carrier and nonprofit lessees), lease-expiration timing (two tenants with leases expiring in March 2026; one tenant through June 2028) and the city's limited history of receiving cash offers; he said prior buyers had generally sought the building without cash payment. Councilors asked whether the city could market the building with leases in place and whether relocation-cost estimates could be developed.
Direction and next steps: councilors asked staff to develop fiber-relocation cost estimates, examine alternatives for relocating the city's data-center connectivity, and review lease-termination language that would permit sale if the city chooses to market the property. The city also said it is arranging an appraisal for related properties and will consider sales only after staff returns with options and costs.
Ending: No sale decision was made; council directed staff to return with a fiber-relocation estimate and clarified that leases could remain in place while the city evaluates disposition options.
