State office building opposed by Governor

The state capitol will not be getting a new office building if Wyoming Gov. Matt Mead continues to oppose the project, citing the budget cuts as reason enough to stall the plan, according to an article by the WyomingTribune Eagle.

The design study would cost the state $4.4 million, a cost that Mead left off his proposed 2013-14 budget plan. The legislators are not in agreement over whether the state should spend the money on this office building when the threat of budget cuts looms. The split in the legislature could possibly waste the $4.4 million if the study is approved and the legislature later decides to drop the project, the article said.

The office building in question, which would be built on Pioneer Avenue where Safeway was, would house the legislature and governor while renovations to the Capitol building are completed. The capitol renovations project itself would cost roughly $50 million, the article said. After the renovations are completed, the office building would be used to house state agencies that currently lease office space. The office building would cost about $80 million.

Proponents of the new building say it is necessary to move quickly on both projects. Rep. Pete Illoway, R-Cheyenne, the co-chairman of the Select Committee on Legislative Facilities, said he thought the capitol renovations could not be ignored and necessitated action.

Rich Cathcart, the state’s construction management administrator, said the office building project needed to be completed swiftly because building codes might change and make the design study outdated and useless.

Another argument for the projects is the money the office building would save the state every year by housing state agencies that would no longer have to lease office space, according to an article by the CasperStar-Tribune.

However, in another article by the Wyoming TribuneEagle, a local economist said the new office building could damage the economy and commercial real estate market of the area. Richard O’Gara, a local economist and president of the privately-run Wyoming Center for Business and Economic Analysis Inc., said the vacancy rate of the area would go up if the new office building were completed. He said the vacancy rate is already at 19.4 percent and would go even higher as property owners will be forced to lower their prices to be competitive in a market with high supply and low demand.

In the article, Mead said he opposed the state office building plan going forward at this time. The budget cuts implemented this year in the legislature and new budget cuts on the horizon could signal a stall of the project until funds are not so tight within the state.

Perhaps the news that the office building could harm the economy of the downtown area will change the minds of some of the state legislators before the next session. As things stand, I do not believe now is a good time to be expanding anything in the state while budgets are being cut. The state legislature is supposed to protect the interest of the residents of Wyoming and the businesses that call our state home. The new office building is not in the best interests of the residents, so it should not be built. Can the legislators not lease a building to meet in while the capitol is being renovated? If those renovations are necessary for safety, then complete them, but that does not mean the businesses of Cheyenne must suffer for it.