Pima County is close to adding another office building to its downtown Tucson inventory.
The county's $635,000 offer for the former HUD building, 160 N. Stone Ave., has been accepted, pushing it to at least 18 downtown holdings.
But it will be the last building purchase for a long time, said County Administrator Chuck Huckelberry.
The Board of Supervisors authorized the county to make an offer on the building, but still needs to approve the deal, probably at its Aug. 7 meeting.
The county also recently bought 200 N. Stone Ave., right across the street, to house the offices of the county schools superintendent.
The county has been buying up downtown office space "out of necessity, because of the number of employees we have," Huckelberry said.
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But now he wants to consolidate operations in a few blocks of downtown.
The purchase will allow the county to move courtrooms and constables out of leased space at La Placita, about three blocks south of the new building.
Buying a building for $635,000 instead of paying about $360,000 a year to lease is "pretty advantageous," Huckelberry said.
Then the county will be done with leasing office space, and "we're not paying taxpayer money to landlords," he said.
Supervisor Ray Carroll voted against the purchase, saying, "We own enough real estate downtown."
"If we right size all of our facilities and put these types of services and bureaucrats in the buildings we have and the space we have, we wouldn't need that building," he said.
Plans for the former HUD building are to house three Justice Court courtrooms and constables there, and later legal defenders, court-appointed counsel and certain public-defender units.
The building is across the street from the future site of the Joint Justice/Municipal Courts Complex, now under construction, where many of those attorneys would practice.
Tom Knox, principal at PICOR Commercial Real Estate Services, said there isn't much private sector demand for downtown office space, though the coming streetcar system could change that. There's been a recent trend of big law firms moving out of downtown.
"I don't think they're crowding out the private market," he said.
"We own enough real estate downtown. If we right size all of our facilities and put these types of services and bureaucrats in the buildings we have and the space we have, we wouldn't need that building."
Supervisor Ray Carroll, who voted against the purchase
Contact reporter Becky Pallack at bpallack@azstarnet.com or 573-4346.
