What’s happening with downtown Olympia property that the county bought for $35M?
Thurston County may move court operations within two recently purchased downtown Olympia buildings to avoid costlier, new construction.
The two buildings, located at 621 Eighth Ave. Southeast, are part of a seven-acre campus the county bought last October for $34.9 million.
“In general, these buildings will be able to support the courts program within the enclosure,” Bill Valdez, a partner at KMB Architects, told the Board of County Commissioners on Wednesday.
After closing the real estate deal, the county contracted KMB to propose a conceptual space layout that included 14 courtrooms, between Superior and District Court, as well as offices for the county clerk. If realized, the county’s courts will leave behind the aging courthouse campus at 2000 Lakeridge Drive SW.
“This is an opportunity for us to completely enhance and upgrade what is an inefficient operation that the courts, through their hard work and dedication, are working in,” County Manager Leonard Hernandez said.
Valdez and KMB principal Janna Peters presented the board with some draft proposals for the two buildings, labeled 1 and 2, during a Wednesday planning session, one of the few meetings the county does not record or livestream for the public.
Four other buildings that were part of the real estate deal were not included in the presentation. In addition to court operations, the county plans to eventually move its general government offices to the campus.
Several Washington state agencies currently have leases for buildings on the campus, The Olympian previously reported. The WA State Traffic Safety Commission has a lease for offices at 621 Eight Ave. SE that’s expected to expire Sept. 30, 2028.
Hernandez described the exercise with KMB as the start of an iterative feasibility study. He added that KMB is consulting with court officials and is already exploring changes, such as adding another courtroom for a total of 15.
“This is not design,” Hernandez said. “This is not that level of detail. This is just big picture, does it work? So that, if it didn’t work, then we abandon that approach and look at other options.”
The approach KMB focused on involved renovating within the “existing envelope” of buildings 1 and 2 to meet the majority of the courts’ needs within the county’s means, according to a copy of the presentation.
Another option the county could pursue involves entirely new construction on the seven-acre campus. Such an effort is estimated to cost about $250 million.
“That is way beyond anything the county has available to apply in its own resources,” Hernandez said.
The county could also gut and renovate buildings 1 and 2 at the cost of $45-50 million.
“Again, the challenge for us is, as a county, we don’t have those dollars,” Hernandez said. “So, we would have to find external ways to get a hold of that funding.”
The approach KMB focused on did not have a cost estimate, but it should be cheaper than the other two options. Hernandez said pricing will be determined later.
“We don’t have the exact pricing right now, because we don’t do that in feasibility,” Hernandez said. “They (KMB) are mindful that what they’re designing by using the current buildings is to really limit the amount of moving of major systems, etc., that would drive the cost significantly up.”
Commissioner and Board Chair Tye Menser responded positively to the cheaper approach.
“It’s very exciting to think that we can achieve something like this without begging other people for money that we don’t have,” Menser said.
The county paid for the seven-acre property with a $50 million bond that was initially issued in 2022 to remodel the county’s dilapidated courthouse campus. The county did not get very far into the initial remodel plans and the downtown property cost $34.9 million.
Menser said the county can use remaining funds from the bond and leverage the property it intends to vacate to pay for renovations on the downtown property.
The Olympian asked the county to provide a rough estimate for when it may issue a request for proposals for design and construction.
“It would be premature to speculate at this stage, but county officials and our judicial partners are actively engaged,” Hernandez said in an emailed statement. “The discussion will be ongoing, and we look forward to bringing the community along in development of their new Regional Justice Center.”
The county’s contract with KMB runs through March 31 and the cost is expected to not exceed $49,999, according to county spokesperson Susan Melnyk and county documents.
