City’s building division moving to leased space

City Hall is getting bigger.

New employees and more documents to store led the City Council Tuesday night to give preliminary approval to lease an additional 3,290 square feet in a building just west of the city’s main offices.

The city currently leases about 20,000 square feet at the Redwood Plaza at 11707 E. Sprague Ave. The space is owned by Northwest Christian Schools and managed by Web Properties Inc.

According to a staff report, the plan calls for the city’s building division and its documents to move into the new site after the agreement goes into effect in August.

“The rates are less than what the market rate is out there,” finance director Ken Thompson said at the meeting.

Under the lease terms, the city will be charged for only 2,100 square feet of the new space for the rest of this year. During the first three months of 2007 the city will be charged for 2,700 square feet of the space. After that, the city will pay $12.88 per square foot per year for the entire 3,290 square feet.

Additionally, the city will need to spend $70,000 to $80,000 for new file-storage equipment and office furniture, Thompson said.

The city’s lease at Redwood Plaza and the space next door will expire in 2010.