Commissioners approve renovations to former IRS building

The Sedgwick County Commission has approved a bid to renovate the first three floors of the 271 Building downtown for $743,400.

The county hopes to move the joint city-county building and construction department and the Metropolitan Area Planning Department into the former IRS building at 271 W. Third St.

The bid, and its alternate plans, will cost $743,400, purchasing director Joe Thomas told county commissioners Wednesday. Commerce Construction Services Inc. submitted the bid.

Chairman Jim Howell and Commissioner Karl Peterjohn praised the bid for carrying a cheaper price than previous plans.

“What we’ve got right now is a much more affordable option,” Howell said.

Commissioners fought for months over whether the county should move county departments into the 271 Building, which it bought in 2014 for $5 million.

Most current commissioners had objections over the building’s initial cost, the cost of renovations and interest payments. They decided to halt renovation plans last summer and try to see if the county could trade for another building.

County staff eventually recommended that the county had no better choice than to move into the six-story building.

Commissioner Dave Unruh later cautioned that the county still needs to find a solution for the building’s top three floors.

“We need to find out which of our departments can legitimately use that space,” he said. “Let’s reduce our burden on lease and rent.”

The request was sent to 197 vendors, according to county documents. Of the 18 companies that responded, five submitted bids.

The renovations will take about 5 1/2 months, according to documents.

This story was originally published March 16, 2016 at 4:47 PM with the headline "Commissioners approve renovations to former IRS building."