At a meeting yesterday, September 17, Thurston County’s Board of County Commissioners (BoCC) approved the potential purchase of a building for the Thurston County Sheriff's Office (TCSO) to co-locate all operational units and provide future expansion space.
The $14,250,000 building is at parcel number 82700600100 at 1111 Israel Road in Tumwater and follows the voters’ passage of the Public Safety Sales Tax last year.
“This infrastructure project is being funded via bond out of the Sheriff’s Office budget, which means the county will free up general fund dollars to resolve the remaining courthouse space issues we are encountering as Thurston County continues to boom past 300,000 citizens,” Sheriff Derek Sanders wrote on a social media post.
Sanders said that over the past decade, the office had run on the challenge of split operations with bureaus divided into the jail, courthouse, and field operations. There is also no space for additional workforce growth.
“We have no space for additional employees. It is not regular for deputies to stand waiting to log evidence, to get on to computers…and this is before we add any additional bodies…We are hiring a lot. We are anticipating to fill all nine of our new... deputy positions this year and we don't think we're gonna have a problem filling the majority of the 18 for 2025,” said Sanders.
Sanders highlighted that the purchase is a cheaper alternative than the office’s current rental or new construction.
“What I was looking forward (to) was to consolidate us into one building that the county could then own; we are no longer paying rent because as of right now the field operations bureau pays rent every year to the port, and also in a cheaper manner than new construction,” added Sanders.
The main goal of the purchase according to Sanders is to “anchor” all deputies into one building, which will consolidate staff which is a “luxury” other police departments have had for decades.
“I just appreciate everyone's collaboration on this and recognizing there's been a lot of needs for the Sheriff's Office, but this is just one more step to get us out of second to last in the state, which is pretty close to being second to last place in the country at this point,” said Sanders.
The public safety sales tax included funding for a new sheriff’s facility. Central Services worked with TCSO early this year to find an existing building in good condition to consolidate the workforce.
The county’s real estate broker then provided ten buildings within the Olympia, Lacey, and Tumwater area, assessed for accessibility, physical condition, total area to accommodate current and anticipated 20-year needs, and projected purchase price.
Four facilities were shortlisted from the initial list, and the staff selected the building at 1111 Israel Rd.
“These four buildings were toured by Central Services and the Sheriff's Office staff and the 1111 Israel Rd. building was determined to best meet the criteria. The 111 Israel building Rd. building appears to have been very well maintained since its construction about 15 years ago,” said Rick Thomas, Capital Projects Planning Manager.
After receiving direction from the county commissioners, the central services staff negotiated with the seller.
“Negotiations commenced in April of 2024 and concluded in August of 2024 with an agreed purchase price of $14,250,000 this is just over $250 a square foot…which is a very reasonable price for a 56,000 square foot four-star building,” Thomas added.
In commercial real estate, buildings are rated one to five stars, with five being the highest. Thomas shared that a four—or five-star building’s purchase price is typically $550 per square foot, and building a new four—or five-star building costs $700 per square foot.
“We opted to seek out an existing building instead of building new, and expect to save tens of millions of dollars. The sale price for this building is $14.25M. For context, Lacey is building a state-of-the-art police department for $61M+, illustrating that the going rate for new construction is hyper-inflated,” Sanders wrote on a social media post.
The county must make an escrow deposit of $500,000, which commences a 105-day thorough inspection of the property.
The remaining balance will be paid once the county decides to purchase the building, and the deposit will be refunded if the county does not proceed with the purchase.
Sanders announced upcoming Town Halls for October when individuals may voice concerns, ask questions, and get updates about public safety issues, including this project.
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bonaro
This exactly what they did with the purchase of the Tyson Seafood building in Mottman. Bought for 13 million and after a decade of non use, they sold it for 3 million... after they gave away most of the parking area for the homeless village.
Ask lots of questions before you support this.
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