The DGIF will move its headquarters to an Henrico office park. Photo by Burl Rolett.
A state agency has hooked a new headquarters in Henrico County after a development in Hanover fell through.
The Department of Game and Inland Fisheries has leased about 52,000 square feet at Villa Park III in Henrico County with plans to relocate its West Broad Street headquarters this spring.
The move comes after the department scrapped plans to build new on land it acquired at Northlake in Hanover County. The agency bought 14.5 acres in Northlake in early 2013 and planned a new 45,000-square-foot, $10 million facility.
“The economy sort of rebounded pretty quickly, and building costs soared,” Lee Walker, DGIF’s outreach director said. “By the time we had gotten the plans and everything done we were looking at about $15 million to build in Hanover.”
Outfitting the Henrico County building will cost the agency about $9 million, Walker said, and DGIF’s lease includes an option to buy the building. Its budget for a new headquarters had previously been approved by the General Assembly.
DGIF liked the Villa Park property for its location near Interstate 95. The property will also bring the entire department headquarters under one roof and on a single-story.
The agency is currently between three buildings around 4010 W. Broad St. totaling about 65,000 square feet. The department has about 464 employees statewide and more than 100 in Richmond.
Walker said the department needed new space because upkeep on its current buildings, all built between 1954 and 1960, was becoming expensive. DGIF plans to put its West Broad Street property and the 14.5 acres it bought at Northlake up for sale, but neither has yet been listed.
The department bought the land in Northlake in 2013 for $1.48 million. It inked a deal with Richmond-based General Land Cos. to build a new 45,000-square-foot building on the site but terminated that contract in July 2013. DGIF said at the time it would take the lead to develop the property itself.
Walker said he hopes to get the land acquisition and planning costs DGIF sunk into the Hanover plan back if and when the property sells.
“It’s kind of a catch-22,” he said. “One of the reasons we weren’t able to build in Hanover was building costs, but on top of the building costs, land costs grew.”
The space DGIF is taking at Villa Park III has been vacant for about four years. The building fell into foreclosure in late 2009, around the same time major tenant Earth Tech vacated the property. OfficeMax, Honeywell and United Hospital Services also lease space at Villa Park III, and the DGIF lease leaves the building 100 percent leased.
Cushman & Wakefield | Thalhimer brokers Mark Douglas and Brian Berkey handled the lease on the landlord’s behalf.
“We were able to offer a site that was vacant, available, cost half as much, was highly accessible – all the things they were looking for without spending the big bucks,” Douglas said.
The DGIF will move its headquarters to an Henrico office park. Photo by Burl Rolett.
A state agency has hooked a new headquarters in Henrico County after a development in Hanover fell through.
The Department of Game and Inland Fisheries has leased about 52,000 square feet at Villa Park III in Henrico County with plans to relocate its West Broad Street headquarters this spring.
The move comes after the department scrapped plans to build new on land it acquired at Northlake in Hanover County. The agency bought 14.5 acres in Northlake in early 2013 and planned a new 45,000-square-foot, $10 million facility.
“The economy sort of rebounded pretty quickly, and building costs soared,” Lee Walker, DGIF’s outreach director said. “By the time we had gotten the plans and everything done we were looking at about $15 million to build in Hanover.”
Outfitting the Henrico County building will cost the agency about $9 million, Walker said, and DGIF’s lease includes an option to buy the building. Its budget for a new headquarters had previously been approved by the General Assembly.
DGIF liked the Villa Park property for its location near Interstate 95. The property will also bring the entire department headquarters under one roof and on a single-story.
The agency is currently between three buildings around 4010 W. Broad St. totaling about 65,000 square feet. The department has about 464 employees statewide and more than 100 in Richmond.
Walker said the department needed new space because upkeep on its current buildings, all built between 1954 and 1960, was becoming expensive. DGIF plans to put its West Broad Street property and the 14.5 acres it bought at Northlake up for sale, but neither has yet been listed.
The department bought the land in Northlake in 2013 for $1.48 million. It inked a deal with Richmond-based General Land Cos. to build a new 45,000-square-foot building on the site but terminated that contract in July 2013. DGIF said at the time it would take the lead to develop the property itself.
Walker said he hopes to get the land acquisition and planning costs DGIF sunk into the Hanover plan back if and when the property sells.
“It’s kind of a catch-22,” he said. “One of the reasons we weren’t able to build in Hanover was building costs, but on top of the building costs, land costs grew.”
The space DGIF is taking at Villa Park III has been vacant for about four years. The building fell into foreclosure in late 2009, around the same time major tenant Earth Tech vacated the property. OfficeMax, Honeywell and United Hospital Services also lease space at Villa Park III, and the DGIF lease leaves the building 100 percent leased.
Cushman & Wakefield | Thalhimer brokers Mark Douglas and Brian Berkey handled the lease on the landlord’s behalf.
“We were able to offer a site that was vacant, available, cost half as much, was highly accessible – all the things they were looking for without spending the big bucks,” Douglas said.
Is this a good deal? They formerly were going to build for $10 million. They say costs have increased 50%. Now they plan to lease space, which will cost them $9 million in leasehold improvements, if that figure (unrealistically) does not get inflated, and they STILL have to pay rent (which will keep increasing once they are in and can’t move without losing the improvements) or face buying the building at their option, which will cost how much? Does this make sense?