The Government Center’s days are numbered, Columbus mayor says. What will come next?
Columbus Council’s approval last week of a $50 million deal to purchase and renovate downtown properties currently owned by Synovus effectively sealed the fate of the city’s towering Government Center.
But as Mayor Skip Henderson tells it, the building’s future was evident well before then.
The 1970s era structure on 10th Street has had its share of problems in the recent past — multiple floods, busted pipes and other events raised concerns about the building’s long-term viability. Millions have been spent in repairs and maintenance, city officials said.
Leaders eventually settled on a proposal that would see the tower and its wings destroyed and replaced with a roughly 310,000 square foot judicial center. City administration would have to find somewhere else to go.
That’s where the Synovus properties come into the equation. The buildings feature 250,000 square feet of office space that will house most city administrative offices.
Now, the second piece of the puzzle has to fall into place. The judicial center project would be one of several funded through a $400 million special purpose local option sales tax, or SPLOST, that will appear on the Nov. 2 ballot. About half of those tax dollars would be earmarked for the new courthouse.
If the 1% November sales tax referendum fails, city leaders would seek different funding avenues for the court complex. The project would likely move forward with or without sales tax funds, Henderson said.
“We’re going to have to replace that building,” he said. “We don’t have a lot of choice based on the condition of this building.”
Synovus deal was a ‘no-brainer’
To do away with the Government Center and build a judicial complex, the mayor, city manager and other municipal administrative offices needed a new home.
The Columbus Council agreed to purchase four buildings and a parking garage from Synovus for $25 million. Another $25 million was set aside for renovations to the buildings bordered by 12th Street, First Avenue and Broadway.
The city approached Synovus about purchasing property in March 2021. But they weren’t the only properties the city considered, Henderson said.
The city hired consultants to evaluate potential properties to determine which were the most structurally sound and best fit the city’s needs.
“Most of them were (downtown,)“ he said. “We also looked down around midtown. We looked at an old TSYS building. We looked at the old Carmike building. We looked at the other Synovus tower on the river. We even briefly looked at some of the big boxes that had gone dark.”
Several factors made the Synovus properties the most appealing, Henderson said: There’s room to expand. The sale comes with a 634-space parking garage, saving the city an estimated $12-15 million in construction costs. The total purchase and renovation could run up to $161 a square foot on the high end, less than half of the estimated $370 per square foot that new construction would cost.
It also keeps a block of the city’s downtown from going dark. Synovus CEO Kevin Blair previously told the L-E that the company was looking to consolidate real estate holdings across the company. When the city approached them to buy the downtown buildings, Synovus moved quickly.
“It was the biggest win-win I think we could possibly hope for,” Henderson said.
Local developer and investor Ken Henson told the Ledger-Enquirer that the Synovus deal was “one of the greatest decisions the city has made in a long, long time.”
Henson owns several properties in downtown Columbus, including a $10 million apartment complex between 15th and 16th streets. He also helped oversee the recent development of City Mills, a boutique hotel and event space on the banks of the Chattahoochee River.
“They get a parking deck and all that square footage. They’re reusing something that needs to be reused in Uptown,” he said. “I think it presents incredible opportunities. I think it is more square footage than the city may need. The chamber of commerce is looking for space. They could put the convention and visitors’ bureau in there. ...They have extra space they could rent out. There are a number of reasons this is a great decision.”
The deal doesn’t come without concerns.
Synovus and city leaders announced the proposed deal on Sept. 24, four days before the council voted to approve the measure. Henderson defended the timeline, saying there had been ongoing discussions about moving operations away from the government center for a few years.
Members of the Columbus Council were briefed on updates during executive sessions. The exact location wasn’t revealed sooner because there were some timing issues, and the city wanted to respect Synovus and its employees, Henderson said.
“We left it up to the company to make an announcement because they’re not leaving Columbus,” he said. “I think they were a little concerned that if we got out in front of it with some type of press release that they would be in a defensive position, which is not the case at all.”
Now, the city must deal with the challenges of renovations, and they must be careful. The city should try to reuse as much of the building’s current structure as they can, Henson said.
“If you try to make it perfect, you’re going to spend a lot of money,” he said.
Under the terms of the deal, Synovus would vacate a majority of the buildings by July 31, 2022, and the remainder by June 30, 2024. The Columbus-based banking and financial services firm will pay the city $500,000 to rent some of the office space after the deal closes. The sale is expected to close no later than March 1, 2022.
The SPLOST and the new judicial center
The years-long process to erect a new judicial center could begin when Columbus voters head to the polls Nov. 2 for the SPLOST election.
If passed, the tax would collect $400 million over a roughly 10-year period beginning April 1, 2022. About $200 million in general obligation sales tax bonds would be issued for the new courthouse.
The wings of the current Government Center would be demolished. The tower would remain standing to allow court proceedings to continue while the new judicial center is being built. Once the judicial center is finished, the tower would be knocked down and a parking structure would be built in its place, Henderson said.
City leaders have worked to cut projected costs. Its current design would cost an estimated $118 million, excluding costs for the parking garage, needed equipment, demolition and renovations, Henderson said.
The rest of the SPLOST projects would be pay-as-you-go. Some of those projects include roadway improvement, public park improvements and public safety projects.
If passed, SPLOST collection would begin on April 1, 2022, and the sales tax rate would be 9% for 9 months. The regional Transportation Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (TSPLOST) expires in December 2022. The rate would remain at 9% if Columbus voters renew the TSPLOST.
The current sales tax rate is 8%. The 9% rate would be among the highest in Georgia, Henderson said.
If the Nov. 2 tax referendum fails, a subsequent SPLOST election can’t be held for 12 months. Henderson said he’s not sure if he would have to push a proposal to the council seeking funding for the judicial center project if the sales tax referendum did not pass. Its importance is something the councilors understand.
If the sales tax fails, the judicial center would still be built on the Government Center site, unless the council changes its mind.
“We made a commitment that we were going to try to make sure that folks had a safe place to come in and out of to do the business of the courts,” Henderson said.
This story was originally published October 6, 2021 at 6:00 AM.