SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Utah lawmakers have agreed to spend $56 million to buy and renovate American Express office buildings to use as a new state office complex that could house up to 1,500 employees.
The Legislature’s Executive Appropriations Committee voted unanimously Tuesday to fund the purchase of the 400,000-square-foot (37,000-square-meter) and 31-acre (12-hectare) property in Taylorsville.
State Division of Facilities Construction and Management Director Jim Russell told lawmakers the purchase was “far and away the lowest cost option” to replace an aging office building on Capitol Hill.
The state Department of Agriculture and Food is expected to move into the office building in August 2020.
American Express will continue to lease office space in the Taylorsville building for about $200,000 a month until it moves into a smaller space.
