In The News
Revamp revives one-time downtown bank
October 20, 2005
By Arnold Lindsay
Clarion-Ledger Staff Writer
Published on October 15, 2005
A former bank building in downtown Jackson that is undergoing a $500,000 renovation is now filled with tenants.
John Ditto, president of StateStreet Group LLC, which owns the building known only by its address, 200 North Congress Street, said the 40,000-square-foot structure was 15 percent leased when his company bought it in 2004.
StateStreet Group is now completing exterior work on the former Magnolia Federal Bank building. The Class A office space will now bring in the highest lease prices.
Ditto's success in renting the space shows the high demand for Class A office space in downtown Jackson, said John Lawrence, president of Downtown Jackson Partners.
"Our occupancy rate has risen in the last four years from an 89 percent occupancy rate to a 94 percent occupancy," Lawrence said. "There are new projects that are putting properties back, like the StateStreet Group. That building, a year ago, was almost vacant."
The six-story building was a good place for Catholic Charities to consolidate offices. Prior to leasing out 13,000 square feet in July, Catholic Charities provided services from five locations across the city. They now house 55 workers at the former bank building.
"We were just lucky when it came along," said William Foushee, executive assistant at Catholic Charities. "It's much more efficient to have everybody in one facility so you don't have yourself trucking all over town to have a meeting. It's a much improved telephone system by being in one building. Saved a lot of money for us, as a matter of fact."
Catholic Charities still maintains an office on Briarwood Drive.
StateStreet Group bought the building from Union Planters for an undisclosed amount, Ditto said. The city of Jackson is contributing a $15,000 facade grant toward exterior renovations.
Ditto this summer purchased the former home of Frank's World Famous Biscuits, 219 N. President St., from the Delta Foundation in Greenville for an undisclosed price. Once renovated, the structure will be leased as a law office, Ditto said.
"It's a lot of negative that's said about downtown. It's really a good place to do business," Ditto said.
The former restaurant has an appraised value of $205,710, according to the Hinds County landroll and 200 North Congress Street is appraised at $499,460. Downtown has had constant gains like the $10 million Columbia Sussex Corp., a privately held Fort Mitchell, Ky., company, invested in the Marriott, formerly the Crowne Plaza.
Another plus is the $14.8 million renovation of the Electric Building. Developer Ted Duckworth already has leased out all apartments, Lawrence said.
Some apartments in the building, now known as Electric 308, are already occupied. The building will be complete by mid-November.
Downtown Jackson has 3.5 million square feet of Class A and high Class B office space — half of the 7 million square feet in the metropolitan area. With that much space, maintaining the level of occupancy will become more critical, Lawrence said.
Throughout the metro area, it costs about $16.75 per square foot to lease office space. In downtown Jackson the average is about $17 per square foot, Lawrence said.
That means in part finding investors who are willing to build new structures in the area to make it inviting and affordable for upstart companies to locate, he said.
"Our risk is that over the next four or five years we've got over 500,000 square feet that is up for (lease) renewal.
It's about 15 percent of our market that could potentially move somewhere else. So we need to start giving those tenants attention and giving them what they need," Lawrence said.
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