COTA closes deal for new downtown HQ
Business First of Columbus
The Central Ohio Transit Authority on Tuesday finalized a deal to buy the building at 33 N. High St. downtown to serve as the new home of its administrative offices next year.
Marty Stutz, spokesman for the operator of the regional bus system, said COTA paid $4.65 million for the 72,000-square-foot building, a price in line with a recently completed investment value appraisal. The Franklin County auditor values the building at $2 million, but that doesn’t include the revenue stream COTA will pull in by renting roughly half of the building’s 10 floors to other tenants, Stutz said.
One of the building’s tenants is the Ohio Manufacturers’ Association.
The building was last sold in 2003 for $1.6 million to Downtown Tiano II Ltd., a partnership headed by area businessman Danos Tiano.
COTA said it expects to have about 100 staffers working out of the new headquarters by the third quarter of 2009. It takes possession of the building Dec. 1.
“Purchasing 33. N. High provides COTA with a presence near Broad and High streets where much of our service operates, permits our employees to utilize the service we provide to the community and offers us greater visibility and convenience to our customers and the community,” CEO Bill Lhota said in a release.
The deal to acquire the building, first announced in October, is part of a reorganization of operations expected to wrap up by the end of 2010 and cost upwards of $45 million.
The reorganization includes a renovation and expansion of the bus garage at COTA’s Fields Avenue campus. That area will be home to a new paratransit operations center, in addition to an existing COTA garage and a building where it will move maintenance operations.
Latest News |
Most Viewed Stories |
Most Emailed Stories |
