Lackawanna County Commissioners Corey O'Brien and Jim Wansacz never imagined they would still be searching for a building to buy almost 18 months into their administration. With the administration considering more than 10 properties in downtown Scranton and elsewhere to meet the county's office space demands, a decision is "probably a couple of months" away, Mr. Wansacz said.
"I wish this would have been done a year ago," he said. "It's been difficult to find the right building."
The majority commissioners have been looking since early 2012 for a building to purchase to alleviate a looming space crunch and get county offices out of leased properties.
The county now maintains month-to-month leases at three buildings: 1300 Old Plank Road, Mayfield, where Domestic Relations Services is located; One Pyramid Center, 409-415 Spruce St., which houses the district attorney's office, and the Brooks Building, 436 Spruce St., home to the clerk of judicial records civil division.
In addition, a lease on more than 30,000 square feet in the Scranton Electric Building on Linden Street will expire in 2015.
One issue, Mr. O'Brien said, is every time the commissioners think they may be ready to make a decision, additional properties come to their attention.
"That's a positive," he said. "We don't want to leave any stone unturned."
For the same reason, the county is looking at buildings outside of downtown Scranton, although the majority commissioners said they would prefer a property in the downtown.
The commissioners declined to identify the properties under consideration. The Kane Professional Building on North Washington Avenue is known to be on the list after the county earlier this year paid for an evaluation of the structure.
In addition to the square footage and the purchase price, the commissioners said they will weigh other factors in their decision. Those range from the cost of any renovations to the potential economic impact, including the effect of taking a property off the tax rolls.
Ideally, they said, the county would pay the mortgage on the property with the money it saves by not leasing.
Mr. O'Brien and Mr. Wansacz said their preference would be a building large enough to satisfy the county's space needs but not so big that the county winds up with excess space.
Mr. Wansacz would not rule out buying two smaller buildings if that made the most sense financially.
"We are looking for that long-term, 50-year solution," Mr. O'Brien said. "It's important to make the right move because it won't be possible to undo it."
Contact the writer: dsingleton@timesshamrock.com