Agenda - 11-09-2006-1 Space Needs report

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Orange County Space Needs Report~ 2005 Update Page 2 of 69 parking limitations , limited land upon which to expand buildings and the negative impact of the increased traffic that the expansion would bring . The recommendations contained in this study do not support the expansion of existing facilities for the most part , but rather advocate for the development of an alternative county campus to be sited in central Orange County in or around the Hillsborough area . The property on Homestead Road in Chapel . Hill serves as the County' s main service delivery location for. the southern part of the county a,nd has proven, to be a wise investment . As the Hillsborough area continues to develop , it seems prudent to replicate that effort and establish a new campus while the availability of land is still somewhat reasonable . Ownership The findings contained in this report will continue to support owned space vs . leased space to house permanent County offices . Significant strides have been made to reduce the amount of square footage leased for permanent office space over the past several years . In 2000 , the County paid approximately $ 369 , 000 annually for nine leases . Today the annual cost has dropped to approximately $ 349 , 000 for five leases and will drop to approximately $ 200 , 000 per year at such time the two senior - centers are completed and the leases for properties in which they are now housed expire . A schedule of current leases is attached as Exhibit 1 . The recommendations contained in this report will recommend the use of leased property only under specific . circumstances in which there is a compelling business reason to do so . An example of this is evident in the case of the. Child Support Enforcement offices , where the offsetting revenues for rent payments make it more cost effective to lease rather than to own a building . While ownership is preferable over leasing , the County may also choose to lease property to accommodate short-term needs , such as for a time -limited grant program (two years or less) , disaster relief offices or for relocation of offices during major renovations in County facilities . Other assumptions observed during the formulation of the study recommendations include : Re-assignment of Space to Courts Function Decisions to limit the expansion . of the current courthouse to the: 25 , 000 square foot program that is under design at this time requires that additional space be identified to fill the long -term mandated needs of the Court system in Hillsborough . In order to accommodate those needs , downtown County offices would systematically be assigned to Court functions as needs dictate and new County facilities are brought on line . Green Building Practices The County . has for . several years integrated green building practices into new construction and renovations alike . A basic premise of the recommendations of this report is that green - building practices will continue to be integrated as appropriate . 2