Homeland Security to combine offices

Spokane’s Homeland Security department will consolidate 30 of its workers from three downtown offices into a single building on the north side of the Spokane River.

The move is part of a national initiative being followed by many federal agencies, said Ross Buffington, a General Services Administration spokesman in the Seattle area.

The goal, he noted, is to improve efficiency and have related agencies work more collectively.

In this case, the Spokane Homeland Security workers will move into the second and third floors of the Broadview Dairy Building at the corner of Cataldo Avenue and Washington Street. Caterina Winery …

Spokane’s Homeland Security department will consolidate 30 of its workers from three downtown offices into a single building on the north side of the Spokane River.

The move is part of a national initiative being followed by many federal agencies, said Ross Buffington, a General Services Administration spokesman in the Seattle area.

The goal, he noted, is to improve efficiency and have related agencies work more collectively.

In this case, the Spokane Homeland Security workers will move into the second and third floors of the Broadview Dairy Building at the corner of Cataldo Avenue and Washington Street. Caterina Winery occupies the main floor.

Being moved are workers from the Federal Protective Service, a division of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement division; the federal Detention and Removal Office; and the Office of Investigations.

Those agencies will vacate offices in the Thomas S. Foley U.S. Courthouse, the Riverside Avenue post office building and the Great Western Building, Buffington said.

Cory Barbieri of Goodale & Barbieri Co. said the agencies are taking a 10-year lease on 18,200 square feet of office space. The lease will come to about $23 per square foot, said Barbieri, who handled the lease.

The GSA, which manages federal office space, looked at five sites before selecting the Broadview building, Barbieri said.

Remodeling is expected to start in July; the agencies are expected to move in by December. Other Homeland Security agencies, such as the Transportation Security Administration, will not be affected, Buffington said.

Spokane’s Career Path Services now occupies the top two floors of the Broadview Dairy. The education and job-training program will move its 17 workers to 6,300 square feet of the Peyton Building, at 10 N. Post St.

Career Path Services CEO George Iranon said the move should be done by June 1.