State moving to cut down on space rented for agencies

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As the state moves to consolidate various departments in one hulking office building on Madison’s west side, it is also planning to reduce the amount of private space it rents.

The Wisconsin Department of Administration announced this week that work dating to 2011 will enable the state to reduce the number of private leases it holds from 17 to four, allowing it to shed 85,000 square feet of leased space. The reductions are related to the DOA‘s plans to rebuild the Wisconsin Department of Transportation’s 368,100-square-foot headquarters at the Hill Farms site on Madison’s west side.

That structure is to be replaced with a 600,000-square-foot building that will house not only WisDOT but eight other state agencies, including the Department of Safety and Professional Services and the Public Service Commission. The project, which has a not to exceed cost of $195.3 million, is being undertaken by a joint venture named Smith Gilbane.

The project team is composed of C.D. Smith Construction Inc. of Fond du Lac; Gilbane of Providence, R.I.; Hammel, Green and Abrahamson Inc. of Minneapolis; and the architecture and engineering firm Smith Group JJR LLC of Detroit. The team has started design work and has broken ground at the Hill Farms site.

As for shedding rented space, the DOA announced plans to have:

• The Department of Children and Families move out of seven offices into one area in the General Executive Facility III building on Madison’s Webster Street.
• The Department of Public Instruction move into the GEF 1 building on Webster Street. That department is now in the GEF 1 building.
• The Department of Veterans Affairs share space in the Department of Revenue building on Madison’s Rimrock Road. The department is now housed in building west of Madison’s statehouse square.
• WisDOT consolidate two Department of Motor Vehicles offices on Madison’s west side in a new location that has yet to be selected.
• The Office of the Commissioner of Insurance move into the Tommy Thompson Building on West Washington Avenue. That is office is also in a building near the statehouse square.