State agencies' move from Marquette could violate executive order

More than a decade ago, the Marquette Tower sat at the corner of Broadway and Fountain Street in downtown Cape Girardeau, crumbling and empty -- an eyesore on the verge of being demolished.

The historic hotel was essentially saved by an executive order from then-Missouri Gov. Bob Holden. The order required state agencies to be placed in central downtown business districts as part of an effort to rehabilitate those struggling areas. The Marquette property was purchased and brought back to life with a $6 million restoration, to be used for state office space.

Thirteen years later, at least one state agency will be moving from the tower to the west side of town, doing the very thing Holden's executive order set out to prevent.

The policy change on state office leases began during the late Gov. Mel Carnahan's administration, and Holden continued it.

Holden's order, issued Dec. 20, 2001, gives preference to historical buildings. No. 01-22 reads:

"State buildings and facilities, whether state-owned or leased, shall be located in central downtown or revitalization districts in urban cores, suburbs, cities, towns and rural communities throughout the state when consistent with public service requirements and with historic preservation efforts and when economically prudent."

The executive order's language has no expiration or sunset date, nor have any subsequent orders superseded it.

Building specs

The Spanish-style hotel opened in 1928 and consists of two properties: Marquette Tower, the 59,000-square-foot former hotel on Broadway, and the 25,000-square-foot Marquette Centre at 221 N. Fountain St.

The city condemned the building in 2000 after it sat vacant for 19 years.

Soon after, the Missouri Division of Facilities Management awarded a state contract for office space to Prost Builders of Jefferson City, Missouri, which purchased the nearly 75-year-old building for about $350,000 in 2002. A $6 million restoration project began on the property the following year.

Last week, Angie Fehr-Clark, assistant director of the Sikeston, Missouri, regional office of the Department of Mental Health, confirmed the department's satellite office in the Marquette Tower will be moving to the former Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield building on Siemers Drive on the west side of Cape Girardeau.

The department's satellite office has been in the Marquette Tower for 10 years.

The move to a more centralized part of the city will provide better access for clients and put all the office on one level, Fehr-Clark said.

State officials would not confirm whether other state agencies in the Marquette Tower will follow the state Department of Mental Health's satellite office to its future location on the west side of the city, though an email from Ryan Burns, public information officer for the Missouri Office of Administration, said such moves are done "within the parameters of state law."

Leasing to state agencies more than a decade ago was a major transaction, and Holden's executive order eliminated others from competing against Prost Builders for the contract awarding state office space, said Thomas M. Meyer of Thomas Meyer Commercial Real Estate Co., the real estate agent who handled the building's leasing for its first five years.

The purpose of the executive order was to encourage revitalization and growth, which was important because many communities were seeing a downward trend in their downtown areas at the time, Meyer said.

Leasing the unique property was a challenge, "but it was high point of my real estate career," Meyer said. "And it was fun."

The Marquette Tower was an anchor in downtown Cape Girardeau's revitalization, and the best thing the city had going for the area at the time, he said.

"It was a very strong presence right in that area," Meyer said.

The state agencies' location in the Marquette Tower caters to their clients, many of whom are low-income and don't live on the west side of town, he said. A bus route also was established to make the offices more accessible to clients from the south side of the city.

"The concept of everything under one roof, I thought, was very strong for the clientele they serve," Meyer said.

Because discussions of "potential office consolidation and lease changes" in Cape Girardeau are ongoing, the state office of administration is unable to confirm any relocations at this time, the email said.

ashedd@semissourian.com

388-3632

Pertinent address:

338 Broadway, Cape Girardeau, Mo.

221 N. Fountain St., Cape Girardeau, Mo.