The General Services Administration is negotiating a 10-year lease for four floors of the Severs Building to house the U.S. Attorney’s Office, a government official said.

Cost to taxpayers for 27,580 square footage on four floors is $477,299.28 annually, or $39,774.94 per month for the first five years. Tye DeBerry, senior advisor to the regional administrator for General Services Administration, said lease payments will be $361,298 per year, or $30,108.67 per month, for the last five years of the lease.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office would be housed on floors four, five, six and seven of the 10-story building, said Bank of Oklahoma NA representative Mike Nalley of Tulsa. BOK owns the Severs Building.

U.S. Attorney Sheldon Sperling said his office employs about 30 people and has voluminous files.

The building to be leased is just west of the Muskogee County Courthouse at 215 State St., a short walk to the Ed Edmondson U.S. Courthouse on Fifth Street between Okmulgee Ave. and Broadway.

Records in the Muskogee County Assessor’s office show the assessed value of the BOK building is $3.8 million.

Renovation of the space to meet specifications will be paid for by BOK, Nalley said.

The anticipated occupancy date was listed last month as Aug. 1, 2009, DeBerry said. Friday, she said the occupancy date could not be predicted pending resolution of remaining building issues with the lessor.

The anticipated date of the lease award was to have been July 18. But the lease was not signed because of the remaining issues. There are often extended negotiations on such leases, DeBerry said.

The lease award had not been made as of Friday, Nalley said.

“We’re still working with GSA to get the lease executed and completed,” he said, adding he hoped that would be soon.

Nalley was on vacation in Florida and said he may know more Monday when he gets back to work.

Sperling said earlier there were some matters to be addressed in connection with the pending lease.

GSA provides and negotiates all leases for government agencies.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office is presently housed at 1200 W. Okmulgee Ave. in what is known as the Muskogee Federal Building. It is locally owned.

The building has 19,582 rentable square feet with an annual lease of $435,426.10, or $22.24 per square feet, DeBerry said.

Reach Donna Hales at 918-684-2923 or Click Here to Send Email