Moving boards into state buildings could save $3 million a year in rent
JACKSON — Renovating state-owned buildings to house licensing boards and commissions that now lease private office space could save Mississippi about $3 million a year in rent, the Department of Finance and Administration told the Senate Government Structure Committee on Wednesday.
DFA Deputy Executive Director Glenn Kornbrek said rising commercial lease rates are making the state’s own underused space more attractive.
“We are soon going to crack $20 a square foot on lease space,” Kornbrek told the committee. “So that’s $3 million a year every year once these are implemented.”
According to DFA’s figures, boards and commissions currently lease nearly 120,000 square feet in the private market. That is close to the amount of space DFA said it could free up inside state-owned buildings.
Kornbrek said the renovations, estimated at $60 million over five years, would have to be done whether or not the buildings take on new tenants. “We need to renovate these buildings regardless,” he said.