County purchases building

Adrienne Packer

Wednesday, Jan. 3, 2001 | 11:03 a.m.

An idea to tap into private donations to add an 18th floor to the Regional Justice Center was abandoned Tuesday when Clark County commissioners instead opted to purchase an adjacent building.

Already a major tenant in the Clark Place office, county officials said the $900,000 annual rent saved would eventually cover the $13 million cost of the East Clark Avenue building.

"This by far is the least per-foot alternative," Assistant City Manager Mike Alastuey said of the 117,000-square-foot building that sits across the street from the Justice Center. "The savings from rent could pay for the building."

Though the $160 million Regional Justice Center isn't yet completed, county officials are already scrambling to find more space in a building that is expected to be overcrowded when it opens next year.

Rather than housing the district attorney's office on three floors of the Justice Center and adding another level for courtrooms, the DA's division will move into the Clark Place building.

Alastuey said the Clark Place alternative affords the district attorney's office nearly 30,000 more square feet. The Clark Place office also comes with a 250-space parking garage.

The district attorney's family services division already takes up about 36,000 square feet of the building; two other law firms that share the office space will be relocated.

County officials said building an additional floor at the Regional Justice Center -- which would be 29,000-square-feet of office space -- would cost about $8 million.

The county also considered renovating the Bridger Building downtown, but board members agreed that buying Clark Place was better.

"This is an excellent solution," said Commissioner Myrna Williams, who sat on the panel that created plans for the Regional Justice Center, which is 30 percent complete and expected to open in 2002.