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Plans Moving Forward for Long-Delayed Government Office Complex

May 21, 2007 — After sitting on the books for nearly four years, plans to build or lease a government office complex on St. Thomas are finally moving ahead.
"An RFP (request for proposal) has been issued to see what's available," Gov. John deJongh Jr. said Friday.
Bids on a turnkey operation will be received until 4 p.m. July 17 at the Property and Procurement Department. The provision to build a government office complex was sponsored by Sen. Carlton Dowe in the 25th Legislature.
On Monday, he said he has no idea why it took so long for the government to act on the bill after its passage in July 2003. Dowe did not serve in the 26th Legislature. The government will not construct the project, but will contract it out to a private developer, he said.
Both Dowe and deJongh said that the complex would save the government money. Dowe put the government's annual rental bill at $9 million territory wide. The Internal Revenue Bureau alone pays $500,000 a year in rent, he said.
Property and Procurement Commissioner Lynn Millin had little information on the issue.
In addition to saving money, the complex would provide one-stop shopping for residents who now must trek around the island to various government offices, Dowe said.
"And it would reduce congestion and the traffic situation," he said. Consolidating offices in a central-government office complex would free up office space for small businesses and rents in those vacated offices would go down because more rental space would be available, Dowe added.
Some government offices are in deplorable shape, and instead of the government sinking money into repairs it could put the money toward the new complex, he said. Dowe envisions the complex having an after-school program for children of government workers, a cafeteria and a gym. He doesn't know where it might be located, but said it would have to be on a large tract of land.
Eight companies attended a pre-bid conference held in April, Dowe said. "There was good interest," he said.
The scattered government-office situation came about for a couple of reasons, Dowe said. In addition to government growth, successful political candidates take care of their supporters who own rental property by making sure government offices go into their properties, he said.
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