After the release of a study on options where Williamsburg-James City County school district administrative offices could move in the future, Superintendent Steven Constantino recommended a new 37,000 square-foot structure be built on a county-owned piece of land just southeast of the courthouse between Courthouse Commons and Ironbound Road.
“We’re certainly not putting this up for a vote now — or this month,” Constantino said. “But we’re going to have to make a decision about this.”
Three pieces of land are being considered as sites for the new administrative headquarters. James Blair Middle School is no longer listed as an option because the land area is not big enough to simultaneously accommodate a new middle school and administrative building.
For each of the land options being considered, the district called around and tried to determine the cost of leasing or buying the land, and the building size that could be accommodated.
The Courthouse Commons site Constantino recommends would not cost the district any money to acquire the land because James City County already owns it. It would also not require any extra parking spaces, as the building would just use shared parking with the nearby courthouse.
According to Chief Financial Officer Terry Stone, the initial construction is projected to cost the district $8.5 million. After 20 years, that number should go up to about $13.5 million, assuming a 5 percent annual interest rate on the debt the district would acquire from erecting the structure.
“That’s a very safe estimate,” Stone said. “We wanted to allow for the potential for costs to increase during the period of construction, plan and design.”
Another land option on the table was a lot next door and southwest of the site Constantino picked. The land could fit a 45,000 square-foot building and, unlike the recommended site, is already clear of trees.
If the district leased the land for the section option and rented a building erected by the landowner — the only option offered by the developer — it would cost $944,400 each year. Assuming the rent would rise by 2 percent at each annual lease renewal, it would cost the district 22.9 million dollars over 20 years. That’s $9.4 million higher than the option Constantino chose.
To enter the contract, the developer also asked for a parking agreement with the city that would continue even if WJCC administrators decided to later vacate the building.
The final land option before the board was located off Discovery Park Boulevard in the still developing northern portion of New Town. The site could also fit a 37,000 square-foot building.
Unlike the developer-owned site near the courthouse, the land owner for the Discovery Park lot was willing to offer the district an option to lease or buy the land. Leasing the land and a building constructed by the developer would cost the district $814,000 to $999,000 each year.
In 20 years, again assuming the rent would rise by 2 percent each year, the city would pay $19.8 million to $24.3 million for the land and building.
Alternatively, if the WJCC purchased the land and built its own structure, the initial cost would be about $7.6 million to $8.6 million. In 20 years, using the same 5 percent interest rate assumed for the other options, it would cost the school district $12.1 million to $13.7 million.
Also part of Tuesday’s discussion was Constantino’s recommendation that James Blair Middle School, which now houses administrative offices, be torn down and new construction put in its place.
In 2009, the board decided it would convert the closing middle school into WJCC’s central office. One year later, they had moved into the building. It has served as administration headquarters for three years, but the space it occupies may soon be needed to build a new middle school to accommodate growing enrollment.
Jim Kelly, Jamestown District’s representative on the school board, said the new administrative offices project will have to move quickly to compensate for a potential overlap with the district’s plans to open a new middle school in fall of 2017. He said construction for the school would need to start by January 2016. To meet that deadline, administration needs to be out of the building by the middle of next year.
“It’s a very tight timeline,” Constantino said.
The school liaison committee will meet Sept. 11 to discuss the superintendent’s recommendations. The school board will revisit these issues again in October, with a vote likely in November.
