Tuesday, December 21, 1999
IRS expansion planned at new building in Covington
Offices could open in 2001
BY CINDY SCHROEDER
The Cincinnati Enquirer
COVINGTON — A prime undeveloped corner downtown could become an expanded IRS center by the 2001 tax season, a spokesman for the federal General Services Administration said Monday.
The GSA, which acts as a landlord for federal agencies, agreed Friday to lease 27,140 square feet of a development on a city parking lot at the southeast corner of Third Street and Madison Avenue, said Gary Mote, a GSA spokesman for the eight-state region that includes Kentucky. He said the site is directly behind the Gateway Center, which houses IRS customer service operations.
In October, the Covington City Commission rejected a proposal that Corporex Cos. had submitted two years ago to build an office and retail tower at the site.
City officials said then that Corporex did not offer enough for the property, and didn't respond to a counteroffer. They said they wanted the land available to developers should the IRS decide to build offices there.
“The IRS wanted to stay close to existing operations, and (federal) requirements require the use to be in the central business district,” Mr. Mote said. “The problem in Covington is that vacant land or space is very scarce.”
Mr. Mote said that the GSA's 10-year lease with Midwest Properties LLC of London, Ky., requests that the building be ready by next Sept. 1, but no later than March 1, 2001 — just in time for the 2001 tax season.
However, Covington officials and a spokesman for the IRS Covington-based operations could not confirm Monday that a contract had been awarded. The GSA first sought proposals for the office space nearly three months ago.
“I'd heard that they were going to do something (Monday) or (last) Friday,” said Covington City Manager Greg Jarvis. “But we haven't seen any design (for the project), or officially had any correspondence with the GSA or the IRS. Normally, the GSA would send us something notifying us.”
“Everyone internally tells me that the contract has not been awarded,” said IRS spokesman Chris Kerns. Until he is officially notified, Mr. Kerns said, he couldn't say which employees or operations would be moved.
There are 4,300 positions under Cincinnati's IRS center. Those workers operate out of a warehouse, offices and a files building in Florence, a data transcription area on the Wright-Patterson Air Force Base at Dayton, Ohio, the IRS Center on Fourth Street in Covington, the Gateway Center at Third Street and Scott Boulevard, and a former furniture building on Madison Avenue in Covington, Mr. Kerns said.
For the development to proceed at Third and Madison, Covington officials would have to approve its design and scale — something they have not yet done — said Economic Development Director Ella Brown-Fry.
Also, Midwest Properties LLC would have to contact the city about buying the property, “which they haven't,” said Covington So licitor Joe Condit.
“GSA contacted the city, and asked if we would make the site available at market rate for a prime development,” Ms. Fry said. “We said "Yes, if the city had ap proval, in terms of design, the type of development and its scale.'”
Ms. Fry said the Covington city staff's only contact with Midwest Properties LLC has been through a Realtor.
“If someone is proposing something that doesn't meet our design criteria, we're basically going to have to ask GSA to reconsider the entire project,” Ms. Fry said.
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