Sedgwick County divides up former IRS building for offices

Sedgwick County’s new downtown tag office will take up the first floor of the former IRS building based on plans by Schaefer Johnson Cox Frey Architecture.

The building at 271 W. Third St. will offer 14,863 square feet of space for the tag office, which is now situated at 200 W. Murdock in a cramped building that offers little parking for the public. Finding a new location for the downtown tag office was a big reason the county bought the building.

The county appraiser’s office will move into the second and third floors of the building, taking up 14,043 square feet. The appraiser’s office had been located in the former Wichita Mall on East Harry. The Sheriff’s Office’s professional standards unit will have space on the second floor with 1,315 square feet.

The county also will have a break room, rooms for nursing mothers, a maintenance office and a training room on the third floor.

The Metropolitan Area Building and Construction Department, a joint city-county department, will be on the fourth floor with 7,020 square feet. That’s where inspectors will work. Environmental resources also will be on the fourth floor with 2,634 square feet.

Building and construction will have a lobby and administrative place in 12,178 square feet on the fifth floor.

The Metropolitan Area Planning Department will be on the sixth floor in 13,743 square feet.

The county paid about $4.9 million for the building. Commissioners Karl Peterjohn and Richard Ranzau voted against buying the building, saying there were less expensive alternatives.

Total cost of the project – including remodeling, architectural services and furnishings – is expected to be more than $15.7 million.

The county hopes to move into the building later this year or early next year.

This story was originally published January 27, 2015 at 9:41 AM with the headline "Sedgwick County divides up former IRS building for offices."