Unexpected repair costs to what will be headquarters for Tucson Unified School District have doubled original expectations, officials say.
The building north of downtown at 220 W. Sixth Street, just east of North Main Avenue, was projected to cost about $3.3 million to renovate. The new improvementsβ price tag: $7.2 million.
When TUSD purchased the building that once was home to Tucson Electric Power from the University of Arizona, district officials say they didnβt know about the millions of dollars it would have to spend on improvements, said Ricky Hernandez, TUSDβs financial chief.
βObviously the U of A did not do their due diligence in keeping this building up,β TUSD board member Natalie Luna Rose said after its meeting earlier this month about the increased cost of repairs.
βLack of investmentβ
The school district and UA agreed the building would be sold βas is,β Hernadez explained.
βWe underestimated the lack of investment by the university into the building at the time that we went in to purchase it.
Essentials like upgrading the HVAC system and replacing floors are included in the higher renovations total. And a chunk of the price tag goes towards required elements like ADA accommodations, which will cost just shy of $1.7 million to bring to code.
βThe moment that youβre going to start doing major infrastructure, the ADA says you have got to make everything ADA compliant,β Hernandez said. βThat everything from making the restrooms ADA compliant to doorknobs.β
The cost to make repairs for the building Tucson Unified School District has jumped from an estimated $3.3 million to $7.2 million. The building that was the headquarters for Tucson Electric Power before it was purchased by the University of Arizona is located at 220 W. Sixth St. near North Main Avenue.
The UA did not do major renovation to the annex, which allowed them to avoid repairing the building to meet ADA requirements.
Seeking funding from the state to help with the cost of renovation isnβt an option, Hernandez said. βThey only provide funding for buildings where kids are,β he said.
Among the grown-ups using the building is TUSDβs governing board. The structure will include a new board room, complete with overhead projectors, microphones, speakers, space to host a crowd and outfitted to accommodate all individualsβ mobilities. Board room costs cash in at $728,885.
Concerning the $7.2 million as a whole, Hernandez said some of the costs are cosmetic β things like painting, flooring and drywall repairs. Those upgrades cost a bit over $1 million, he said.
The status of β1010β
In November, Up Campus Properties, LLC, a Chicago-based developer of Hub high-rise apartment complexes, agreed to purchase TUSDβs current administration building, the Morrow Education Center at 1010 E. 10th St. β often referred to simply as β1010β β for $18.3 million.
Up Campus pulled the offer.
The TUSD Governing Board voted 4-1 in January to sell TUSDβs administration building to MDL Development, LLC of Delaware for $17.5 million. Board member Sadie Shaw made the sole no vote.
The plan at the time was to apply the total $17.5 million sale to the purchase and renovation of the new headquarters building.
That deal has since fallen through.
One of the arguments for selling the current administration building was renovation costs.
At a governing board meeting in late 2023, it was reported the sale of 1010 would mean avoiding spending about $7.4 million to repair it. TUSDβs current headquarters building is crumbling, its occupants have said.
Employees have referred to the 1010βs elevator as βthe death tubes.β It would cost about $900,000 to repair the elevator, the district said at a board meeting last year. And replacing its aged HVAC system was projected to cost about $3.3 million.
βAny of these renovations when we start digging into the walls, into the windows β into anything like that β we have asbestos abatement that we have to consider, too,β TUSDβs leasing manager, Bryant Nodine, said of the decades-old existing headquarters.
Offers βwaiting in the wingsβ
TUSD has said since at least 2023 that it would be more cost-effective to buy and repair the former UA building than stay at 1010 and spend anywhere from about $7 million to $11 million in needed repairs and renovations.
Sale of the Annex was approved by the Arizona Board of Regents in February 2024.
TUSD hired an outside consultant to carry out inspections of the former UA building. And the district hired βoutside counselβ to carry out all real estate functions, Hernandez said.
District officials are now looking at other offers for 1010 that have been waiting in the wings, Hernandez said.
βFrom those offers, they will all ... accommodate, essentially, what weβre trying to accomplish: the purchase of the new building and the cost of the building improvements,β Hernandez said.
