NOTN- Juneau officials are moving forward with plans to buy two floors of the Michael J. Burns building downtown, calling it the most financially responsible option for consolidating city staff after voters rejected a proposal for a new City Hall.
At a work session this week, the assembly voted to advance negotiations on the purchase to the full assembly for final approval. A decision could come within the next month.
Assembly member Christine Woll, head of the Finance Committee said the city’s current office spaces are aging and expensive to maintain. “The Burns building has emerged as the most financially responsible option, and makes the most sense to bring all our city employees into a single building that’s not leaking like our other locations right now. And so last night, we officially moved that decision to negotiate purchase to the full assembly, so we’ll ultimately make that final decision in about a month. But this was the last big stop to say, yes, this is what we’re interested in doing.”
If approved, the city would form a condominium association with the Alaska Permanent Fund Corporation, which owns part of the building. Renovations would be required to adapt the space for municipal use.