A $9 million multiyear renovation project at One Judiciary Square will force 50 staffers in the District’s Office of the Attorney General, the building’s largest tenant, into costly temporary space downtown.
The first contract for the long-awaited project has been awarded to NVS Construction Co. for the design and build-out of a new litigation support center — essentially a data and copy center, supply office and mailroom. The contract is valued at $348,238.
Once work starts early next year, staff in the attorney general’s consumer protection, rule making, personnel and labor relations divisions will move to 1100 15th St. NW, home to the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers Association and operations of The Washington Post.
The District has signed a seven-year, $3.46 million lease for 13,848 square feet on the eighth floor, said Traci Hughes, OAG spokeswoman. That breaks down to $495,000 a year, or $35.74 per square foot — and 276 square feet per employee.
According to Alexandria-based Delta Associates, which tracks real estate market rates and trends, the District is paying within the average for Class B office space in the area.
The building owner, Akridge, is asking between $23 and $39 per square foot, a Delta employee said.
There is a possibility, Hughes said, that the AG might lease at least a portion of the space on a permanent basis.
The offices at One Judiciary are in “dire need of renovation,” former Attorney General Robert Spagnoletti said in a video message to his employees in October. “With the exception of a fresh coat of paint on the sixth floor, the majority of OAG’s office space has not been renovated in nearly 15 years.”
Work will begin on the cellar level in the law library, including the construction of the litigation support center, and on 1-C with the remodeling and refurbishment of the Child Support Services Division. The 10th floor, slated to receive a new lobby area, new conference rooms and offices, is next, followed by the fourth floor and finally the sixth floor.
The AG and its 640 full-time employees are responsible for government-related civil litigation, child abuse and neglect cases, consumer protection matters, victim services, child support enforcement and government ethics issues.
