Former IRS building ‘a good buy’

A single act that addressed multiple needs, Sedgwick County’s purchase of the former IRS building made sense nine months ago. It still does, yet the new County Commission majority is inexplicably picking the project apart.

The second-guessing and delay likely will end up costing the county more, including $10,000 for an outside audit sought by County Commissioner Jim Howell. Just getting on with the renovations seems more responsible, including fiscally.

The deal could have used more public debate than it received when it was announced and approved as an off-agenda item last August. But a shared headquarters for the merged city-county Metropolitan Area Building and Construction Department and the Metropolitan Area Planning Department had gone through a lengthy request-for-proposal process.

Now, more than two years after city of Wichita and Sedgwick County code enforcement merged, the need for an efficient, streamlined one-stop shop for builders and developers isn’t getting any less urgent.

Three local contractors and the leader of the Wichita Area Builders Association recently toured the six-story, 92,000-square-foot facility at 271 W. Third St. and came away saying the $5 million purchase price was reasonable and that a piecemeal renovation would drive up costs.

According to Tom Stolz, director of MABCD, the contractors estimated that the total cost of the purchase and renovation would be about half of the $18 million to $22.5 million needed to construct a similar building downtown.

Renamed the 271 Building, the site also was planned to consolidate some other county operations that had been leasing space, and it would nicely serve downtown redevelopment by bringing more employees and activity to a vacant space across from City Hall.

Most crucially of all for the general public, the project was slated to put the existing downtown tag office out of its misery – and offer three times the parking for tag customers.

Yet the County Commission’s new conservative majority has put that plan on hold as it seeks other options through a new request-for-proposal process. So a good solution is shelved and an intolerable situation at the current tag office must be tolerated longer.

It also was disappointing to learn that, contrary to customer convenience, the Kansas Highway Patrol intends to require all drivers who need vehicle inspections to go a planned facility in Kechi rather than continue to offer inspections at the downtown tag office.

At least so far, the commissioners’ contention that there are cheaper alternatives doesn’t square with the contractors’ informed opinion.

“That building has good bones, it’s solid. It has a lot of flexibility in terms of how it could be used,” said WABA chief executive Wess Galyon, who also pointed to the $50 to $55 cost per square foot as “a good buy.”

County commissioners should stop their unproductive foot-dragging and let the solid original plan proceed.

For the editorial board, Rhonda Holman

This story was originally published May 7, 2015 at 7:05 PM with the headline "Former IRS building ‘a good buy’."