By DAN TELVOCK
W.J. Vakos Cos.' vision of a bustling town at Spotsylvania Courthouse is taking shape.
By the middle of next year, about 150 county employees will move to a new three-story, 55,000-square-foot building behind Robert E. Lee Elementary School on Brock Road inside Courthouse Village.
The county will then end a five-year lease at the Capital One building near Massaponax. That building is about eight miles away from the county's Holbert Building government center on Courthouse Road.
Bill Vakos III, the company's president, said construction of the office building will begin today, with completion expected the first week of May.
He said the immediate benefit for his development will be the constant traffic from county employees and residents who come to the building for services.
For local residents, businesses, contractors and developers, it means they can pay their taxes, speak with county staff and get permits pretty much in one spot.
"All of that combined will add the foot traffic not only for our village, but the other businesses in the courthouse [area]. I think it is a tremendous boost," Vakos said.
The Code Compliance, Economic Development and Planning departments will occupy the third floor rent-free for one year--a savings of about $200,000.
The Department of Social Services will pay full rent--$15 per square foot--for the second floor. Altogether, the county will lease about 36,000 square feet.
The first floor will have commercial and office space for lease to private businesses. If the county buys the building, any lease of 10 years or less with businesses on the first floor must be honored.
Vakos also agreed to pay up to $334,500 for furniture, fixtures and installation of data cables. At Capital One, the county pays to use Verizon's data cables, which costs about $40,000 a year.
"It is not something we typically do for every tenant," Vakos said. Given the economy, he said, the county government "didn't need to have any new expenses over what their existing budgets were."
Once the government building is finished, Vakos said, he will begin construction of eight live-and-work units across the street. There, people can live atop their businesses.
The final building in the first phase will be 50,000 square feet of retail and office space.
The Board of Supervisors on Tuesday night unanimously approved the public-private partnership.
Vakos said the red-brick building will resemble the Princess Anne Hotel in Fredericksburg. W.J. Vakos Cos. restored that historic building in 1977.
Dan Telvock: 540/374-5438
Email: dtelvock@freelancestar.com
| To lease the second and third floors, the county will pay $15 per square foot, or about $550,000 a year. The county has an option to buy the entire building for $200 per square foot within five years. The county must honor all other leases of 10 years or less if it buys the building.
The county currently pays about $13.25 per square foot at Capital One, but that rate was to increase to about $16 next year, county staff said. The average lease rate in the Fredericksburg area is $23.55 per square foot. The average lease rate in Virginia is $31.52 per square foot.
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