Nov. 29—CONCORD — The state has approved a 20-year, $70 million lease with a politically prominent developer to provide a new home for the Department of Justice and perhaps for other state departments.
The Legislature had already approved a plan to demolish the existing Department of Justice building at 33 Capitol St. and build a new legislative parking garage on the property. The building is across the street from the State House.
The Executive Council unanimously approved the no-bid lease at its meeting last week.
The DOJ, often referred to as the Attorney General's Office, will move into 65,000 square feet of space in what's known as the South Building at 1 Granite Place in Concord, about a mile and a half north of the State House. This is part of a complex originally built to serve as state headquarters for Lincoln Financial Group, an insurance company.
The lease covers the entire 106,000-square-foot building, and state officials said other state agencies could be moved there as well.
The lease is with the real estate management firm led by Steve Duprey, a former Republican state chairman who owns a lot of commercial property in the Concord area.
The deal is a "triple net" lease that makes the state responsible for paying monthly rent, the cost to upgrade the space, and other expenses of the landlord including parking, maintenance and taxes as well as all finance costs over the life of the lease.
Administrative Services Commissioner Charles Arlinghaus said the AG's Office should remain in the capital city.
"There just aren't many options out there," Arlinghaus said.
The new legislative parking garage would replace a Storrs Street garage that's two blocks from the State House.
The circa-1976 parking structure is so badly corroded that steel nets were installed to catch falling concrete before it crashed onto cars or pedestrians below.
Why not buy?
This lease agreement with Duprey's limited liability company gives the state an option to buy the South Building at 1 Granite Place outright for $15 million between Aug. 1, 2023 and July 1, 2024.
"I don't like long-term leases," said Executive Councilor Joe Kenney, R-Wakefield, who said the council should consider writing a letter to legislative leaders urging them to buy the building.
Arlinghaus agreed the buy option was a good one.
"The $15 million purchase price is a really good deal for 100,000 square feet of space," Arlinghaus said.
In March 2021, the Brady Sullivan development group in Manchester bought the South Building at 1 Granite Place and 107 vacant acres near to it for $3.4 million.