The West Virginia Water Development Authority's new office, located on the corner of Bullitt and Spring streets, will have an entrance and exit accessibility from Bullitt Street and an exit-only onto Spring Street, said Jarrett Construction president and manager John Jarrett. The 1.7-acre site used to be a storage yard for Pfaff & Smith concrete.
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- A lot once covered in gravel that served as a storage yard for a concrete plant will soon be the state Water Development Authority's $3.2 million office headquarters.
Construction of the authority's 14,000-square-foot building, on the corner of Bullitt and Spring streets, will be completed in July, said Director Chris Jarrett. Employees will move into the 17-room office building at 1009 Bullitt St. by September.
The building has an ADA-approved elevator. One hundred parking spaces will occupy the remaining outside space.
The 1.7-acre site served for many years as a storage yard for Pfaff & Smith, whose concrete plant -- now Arrow Concrete -- lies across Spring Street. Joe Fazio's restaurant is just down the street and BB&T's operations center in the former Diamond Ice building is next door.
WDA, a non-tax-supported entity, paid $450,000 for the site, Jarrett said.
WDA currently owns a condominium-style office space in the Northgate Business Park, 180 Association Drive, but they have outgrown the building, he said. The WDA shares the space with its sister agency, the state Infrastructure and Jobs Development Council, which will rent and share space in the new office building.
The group plans to sell or lease the Northgate office space to another government agency, Jarrett said.
Three years ago, WDA switched from a paper to an automated system. Officials and the public can now track a project's success at www.wvinfrastructure.com.
Monitoring a construction project's success online ensures that they are completed as quickly as possible, he said. The online switch increased their staff size, Jarrett said, resulting in the need for more space.
"The GIS-based [geographical information] system has given us, and anybody, the ability to track projects at any time and check on any project they want to," Jarrett said. "It's to help us manage these projects much more effectively and efficiently. [The new system] required us to get some additional personnel. Frankly we've outgrown this building ... it was not conducive for long term."
In their current building, two people are sharing an office that one person may have occupied before, Jarrett said. But increased staffing is not the only reason for the move.
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- A lot once covered in gravel that served as a storage yard for a concrete plant will soon be the state Water Development Authority's $3.2 million office headquarters.
Construction of the authority's 14,000-square-foot building, on the corner of Bullitt and Spring streets, will be completed in July, said Director Chris Jarrett. Employees will move into the 17-room office building at 1009 Bullitt St. by September.
The building has an ADA-approved elevator. One hundred parking spaces will occupy the remaining outside space.
The 1.7-acre site served for many years as a storage yard for Pfaff & Smith, whose concrete plant -- now Arrow Concrete -- lies across Spring Street. Joe Fazio's restaurant is just down the street and BB&T's operations center in the former Diamond Ice building is next door.
WDA, a non-tax-supported entity, paid $450,000 for the site, Jarrett said.
WDA currently owns a condominium-style office space in the Northgate Business Park, 180 Association Drive, but they have outgrown the building, he said. The WDA shares the space with its sister agency, the state Infrastructure and Jobs Development Council, which will rent and share space in the new office building.
The group plans to sell or lease the Northgate office space to another government agency, Jarrett said.
Three years ago, WDA switched from a paper to an automated system. Officials and the public can now track a project's success at www.wvinfrastructure.com.
Monitoring a construction project's success online ensures that they are completed as quickly as possible, he said. The online switch increased their staff size, Jarrett said, resulting in the need for more space.
"The GIS-based [geographical information] system has given us, and anybody, the ability to track projects at any time and check on any project they want to," Jarrett said. "It's to help us manage these projects much more effectively and efficiently. [The new system] required us to get some additional personnel. Frankly we've outgrown this building ... it was not conducive for long term."
In their current building, two people are sharing an office that one person may have occupied before, Jarrett said. But increased staffing is not the only reason for the move.
Jim Ellars, executive director of the Infrastructure and Jobs Development Council, said his agency hosts public meetings twice a month in a room that is just too small. The new office will feature a larger public hearing room.
"The conference room we currently use does not seat enough people for the meetings we have," Ellars said. "This [new] conference room is much larger and seats approximately 80 members of the public."
John Jarrett, president of Jarrett Construction and construction manager, said on Wednesday that work on the three-story building is on schedule.
The red brick exterior hasn't been applied yet, but workers are busy putting together the frame's large metal studs.
Project architect Mark Spencer included a second-story balcony that will "have a nice view of the [Elk] river," Jarrett said. The front of the building also would feature a "very dramatic" Palladian window, he said.
Jarrett said the new office building is a great addition to Charleston's West Side.
"We're glad to be part of the project and take a vacant piece of land ... and turn it into something useful," Jarrett said.
The independent WDA board gave Chris Jarrett the green light to look for a new home in 2010. The $3.2 million gross cost will come from WDA funds and the proposed sale or lease of its current first-floor Greenway Building location on Association Drive, he said.
The WDA asked Charleston's Municipal Planning Commission in October 2010 to rezone the Bullitt Street site from heavy industrial to general commercial because office buildings are not permitted on industrial sites, city Planning Director Dan Vriendt said previously. WDA received approval last year, Chris Jarrett said.
Reach Megan Workman at megan.work...@wvgazette.com or 304-348-5113.
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