Building repair crews are no strangers to the State Office Building, a 91-year-old structure within the State Capitol Complex and home of the House of Representatives’ offices and many committee hearing rooms.
Plumbing leaks, HVAC issues, electrical failures and other problems have bedeviled the aging building for years, resulting in flooding, mold growth, wild temperature fluctuations and general discomfort for occupants, according to the Department of Administration.
To tackle those concerns, the department is pushing ahead with a top-to-bottom renovation of the 290,000-square-foot building. Also in the works is a 120,000-square-foot addition.
The nearly $500 million project, which has drawn some controversy because of its cost, is up for an environmental review. Launched this week, the review includes a 30-day public comment period.
The Department of Administration, which operates the building, aims to begin construction in December and finish up in December 2026, according to an environmental assessment worksheet released this week.
Construction will begin with the addition. Work within the existing building will commence in June 2024, said Wayne Waslaski, the department’s director of real estate and construction services.
Waslaski said the environmental review isn’t mandatory.
“We just wanted to be comprehensive in our review to make sure we are addressing everything,” he said in an interview Thursday.
Maintaining the building has been a challenge for years.
Built in 1932 and renovated in 1984, the building generated nearly 1,100 service calls in 2019 alone, primarily for “plumbing leaks, heating/cooling troubleshooting, and electrical system repairs,” according to the department.
A 2016 HVAC malfunction resulted in the flooding of six floors. What’s more, the building is undersized and has accessibility shortcomings. Public attendance at hearings and other functions has exceeded the building’s capacity, the department says.
“It gets to the point where you have to do something comprehensive to have a functional, safe and secure building,” Waslaski said.
In the EAW, the department said the building’s condition has presented “a multitude of safety concerns,” which have resulted in “falls and injuries to staff and citizens alike.”
“Emergency power and lighting systems are inadequate, and in the event of a fire, the building has poor smoke isolation. Public access barriers are present throughout the State Office Building, including structures that are out of date with current code and incompliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act,” the department notes.
Specifically, the project will address “accessibility, infrastructure, function, building envelope, and building systems including health, life safety, and security systems to meet current local and state building codes, standards, workplace needs, and public access and accommodation needs,” according to a project narrative.
In late December, the House of Representatives’ Rule and Legislative Committee approved a resolution in support of the project, which has been in the works since at least 2012.
General fund money will pay for design work and other front-end costs. Another likely funding source is “lease financing” or “certificates of participation,” said Waslaski, who added that the project budget is still being finalized.
Given its hefty price tag, not everyone is a fan of the project.
“If you put it into perspective of our priorities, we have 8,000 homeless people in the state of Minnesota,” Rep. Kurt Daudt, R-Crown, told Finance & Commerce in January. “You could take care of half of that homeless problem with this number. At $150,000 per unit of affordable housing, you could build 3,333 units of affordable housing with that money.”
Waslaski has said that the project will be a long-term fix.
“We expect this to be 60-, 70-year facility when it’s completed,” he said as quoted by Finance & Commerce in January. “So your time horizon is longer than you would consider in a spec office development, for example.”
With six above-grade stories and a partial below-grade level, the new space will rise on an adjacent site that currently includes a surface parking lot. The addition will house office and meeting spaces, the department says.
During construction, building occupants will relocate to swing space, most of which will be in the Centennial Office Building, Waslaski said.
The project team includes design firm BWBR and construction manager JE Dunn. The department will use the construction manager at-risk project delivery method. JE Dunn will hold the contracts for the trades work.
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