CMS Spending Millions On New Office Space
As Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools continues issuing pink slips to hundreds of teachers, and officials brace for the looming possibility of wholesale school closings next year, the district finds itself trapped in pricey long-term leases for administrative offices scattered around the county and is bartering away millions of dollars for even more new office space at a premium uptown address.
CMS is swapping 2.3 acres of land it owns near Ray’s Splash Planet, worth nearly $3 million, to secure administrative office space as part of a mixed-use development planned in uptown’s Third Ward.
The trade will net CMS about 25,000 square feet of office space, according to Mike Raible, director of planning and project management. The space was originally targeted to become available early next year, but the sluggish economy has likely pushed back that date, Raible said.
District officials are still reviewing which administrative staffers will move to the new digs, but likely candidates include those that currently occupy the uptown Education Center and adjacent Bob Walton Plaza.
At the same time, Superintendent Peter Gorman has said he expects the district will have to close 10 or more schools before the 2011-12 school year to deal with an anticipated budget crisis that’s widely expected worsen.
In that light, questions are already being raised about whether trading away nearly $3 million worth of land for more administrative office space is a smart move.
The district could have sold the uptown property, Raible confirmed, and used the proceeds to either pay down CMS’ capital debt, of which there is much, or address other capital needs, of which there are many.
“I’ve never been convinced they needed that many administrators, and so much administrative space, in the first place,” said Mecklenburg Commissioner Bill James.
“If they have a choice of spending $3 million on more office space for administrators or new school construction or renovations for children,” James said, “I’d have to say they’ve made the wrong choice.”
“If we’re going to play ‘what if,’” Raible said of the decision to swap the $3-million land parcel for office space, “I suppose we could have gone in a different direction.”
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