Cape's Marquette may lose 3 tenants

The Workforce Investment Board of Southeast Missouri is negotiating a move from the historic Marquette Building on Broadway in Cape Girardeau to new quarters at the former Du'Shells Furniture building on William Street.

The move would provide better service to clients of the board and the affiliated organizations that would also move to the new location, said June O'Dell, president and chief operating officer.

Along with the Workforce Investment Board, or WIB, the state Division of Workforce Development Career Center and the Metropolitan Employment & Rehabilitation Services/Missouri Goodwill Industries, or MERS/Goodwill, offices would also relocate. In all, the move would vacate more than 14,000 square feet in the historic downtown building, renovated a few years ago with state tax credits and home to several other state agencies.

The Marquette is on the market for $4.5 million. Prost Builders of Jefferson City is the current owner.

The Du'Shells building, 2103 William St., has been vacant since the furniture retailer went out of business last year. It is appraised at $1.5 million.

"The problem" with the Marquette "is if people come in to the Division of Workforce Development, and they need to see MERS, they have to go out to the street, around into the building through the restaurant to the elevator to go to the sixth floor," O'Dell said after a meeting of the WIB board of directors Tuesday evening. "This is not customer-friendly. We are supposed to be a one-stop shop with integrated services."

Other issues with the downtown location include a lack of parking, especially handicapped parking, that is easily accessible by clients visiting the building, O'Dell said.

The WIB offices take up about half of the fifth floor of the Marquette. MERS, a contract agency that provides help with job training, occupies the entire sixth floor. The Career Center takes up about half of the first floor of the building. According to figures provided Wednesday, the monthly average of visits to the Career Center, where unemployed and underemployed people can obtain help finding work, is 1,210. Another 411 visitors each month go to the MERS office, while an average of 12 people per month visit the WIB offices.

The directors heard a short explanation of the status of negotiations over the Du'Shells building from building committee chairman Mitch Robinson of Cape Area MAGNET, the local economic development agency. Robinson did not name the building being sought, but told members that negotiations were ongoing and "we are doing our due diligence." There may be something to report by the next board meeting, he said.

"When you are dealing with state agencies, it does take awhile," he said.

The Workforce Investment Board is a 13-county agency with the responsibility to help train workers, retain industries and assist with economic development efforts. In the year ending June 30, 2006, it spent $6.6 million, almost all from government grants and contracts. WIB recently won a $5 million U.S. Department of Labor grant for what is called the WIRED Initiative, which seeks to reinvigorate the regional economy by implementing innovative technologies, focus on higher productivity, foster entrepreneurship and business growth. Its intent is to further develop talent to meet existing needs and encourage new business startups,

MERS/Goodwill local director DeAnn Briggs said she's enthusiastic about the prospects of moving. "It is very hard to partner with people you don't see unless you go down six flights."

Bill Whitlow of Prost Builders, owner of the Marquette, said both the WIB and the Career Center space are included in the state lease of 30,844 square feet of the building. That lease, which must be renewed each year, expires in 2014. The state pays $316,000 a year to lease the space.

The MERS/Goodwill offices are leased separately, Whitlow said, and for a shorter term.

"We definitely don't want to lose any tenants," Whitlow said. "If WIB moves, the state still owes on the lease."

WIB chairman John Moorman, owner of Versa-Tech in Fredericktown, said the move is being considered because WIB and its partners have outgrown the space they currently occupy. "The discussion of the change has been going on for several months."

rkeller@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 126