A. MOTION TO DISCUSS staff’s analysis of a property located at 1801 NW 49th Street (Citrix) and a property located at 2050 Spectrum Boulevard (Spectrum) both in Fort Lauderdale for the potential use by the Broward County Property Appraiser’s Office and/or the Supervisor of Elections. (Commission District 9)
ACTION: (T-3:17 PM) Following discussion, the Board deferred this item to Tuesday, December 4, 2018. The Board requested that a comparative analysis come back to the Board. (Refer to minutes for full discussion.)
VOTE: 7-0. Dr. Sharief was not present at the time of the vote.
B. MOTION TO AUTHORIZE County Administrator, or authorized designee, to approve and execute a contract for sale and purchase between Broward County (Purchaser) and GVAOII 1801 NW LLC (Seller) of a parcel measuring approximately 5.97 acres together with a three-story office building measuring an approximately 72,718 square feet located at 1801 NW 49th Street in Fort Lauderdale (Citrix) at a purchase price of $11,650,000 subject to the review and approval as to legal sufficiency by the Office of the County Attorney; and authorize the Real Property Director to execute and process normal and customary title closing documents. (Commission District 9) (Deferred from August 14, 2018 - Item No. 18)
ACTION: (T-3:17 PM) Following discussion, the Board deferred this item to Tuesday, December 4, 2018. The Board requested that a comparative analysis come back to the Board. (Refer to minutes for full discussion.)
VOTE: 7-0. Dr. Sharief was not present at the time of the vote.
C. MOTION TO ADOPT budget Resolution transferring funds within the General Capital Fund in the amount of $12,000,000 for the purchase of the property located at 1801 NW 49th Street in Fort Lauderdale (Citrix).
ACTION: (T-3:17 PM) Following discussion, the Board deferred this item to Tuesday, December 4, 2018. (Refer to minutes for full discussion.)
VOTE: 7-0. Dr. Sharief was not present at the time of the vote.
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THE PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT/FACILITIES MANAGEMENT DIVISION/REAL PROPERTY SECTION RECOMMENDS APPROVAL OF THE ABOVE MOTION.
While looking for a permanent relocation site for the Broward County Property Appraiser’s Office (BCPA) and the Value Adjustment Board (VAB), Real Property staff visited an office building located at 1801 NW 49th Street (Citrix) and an office building located at 2050 Spectrum Boulevard (Spectrum), both located in Fort Lauderdale. At the time of the initial site visit, staff was informed that the Spectrum building was not available for immediate conveyance. Staff proceeded to negotiate with the Citrix owners and on August 14, 2018 (Item No. 18), an agenda item was presented to the Board of County Commissioners requesting that the County Administrator, or her designee, be given the authority to execute a contract for sale and purchase of the Citrix building. At the commission meeting, the owner of Spectrum informed the Board that his circumstances had changed, and Spectrum was now available for sale for the potential use by the BCPA/VAB, Supervisor of Elections (SOE) and the County’s data center. The Board deferred the original item and directed staff to evaluate both properties.
Both properties are located within zoning AIP (Airport Industrial Park District) which permits administrative office use. The properties are situated in central Broward County and can be accessed via Commercial Boulevard from I-95 to the east and the Florida Turnpike to the west.
The Citrix building is identified by Folio Number 4942-16-15-0010. It measures approximately 5.97 acres and includes a three-story office building measuring 72,718 square feet and has 382 parking spaces. The site can be used for the BCPA, VAB and any other agencies with compatible programming space. The current owner, GVAOII 1801 NW LLC, purchased the property in 2015 for $8,487,000. The County obtained two appraisals which valued the property at $10,000,000 and $10,817,000. The County submitted an offer of $10,408,500 which was the staff recommended appraised value. The property owner counter-offered at $11,650,000 which is 12% above the staff recommended value.
The Spectrum building is identified by Folio Numbers 4942-16-15-0100 and 4942-16-15-0091. It measures approximately 8.56 acres and includes a two-story North Building measuring 64,329 square feet, a four-story South Building measuring 39,306 square feet, a data center measuring 6,255 square feet and has 578 parking spaces. Staff was asked to determine whether the site can be used by the BCPA/VAB, SOE and the County’s data center. The current owner, Spectrum Investors LLC, purchased the property in 2018 for $11,525,000. The County obtained two appraisals which valued the property at $18,460,000 and $24,300,000. The staff recommended appraised value is $18,460,000 because the location of the comparable sales and the type of buyers used in this appraisal report more closely mirror the typical informed buyer of a property like Spectrum. For example, this report used comparable owner-user buildings from the Fort Lauderdale-Cypress Creek submarket (v. sale-leasebacks from western and northern Florida used in the second appraisal). The asking price for the property is $24,229,043, which is 31.29% over the staff recommended value. The South Building is tenant-occupied and would require termination of the existing lease prior to conveyance to the County.
Enterprise Technology Services (ETS) does not recommend relocating the data center to the Spectrum building. The County shifted from running its own data center to using a third party in 2007 because it is more expensive to staff and operate our own data center. The Spectrum data center is a Tier I facility and would need to be upgraded to a Tier III for County use. The County currently uses 1,180 square feet with the goal of reducing to 900 square feet. The Spectrum data center is too large and would need to be redesigned to reduce the floor space to allow for better efficiencies. See Exhibit 1 for a detailed analysis by ETS.
Construction Management Division staff (CMD) evaluated various scenarios which include combinations of the cost of renovating Citrix, the cost of renovating Spectrum, and the cost of building new facilities for the BCPA/VAB and SOE. To meet the programming requirements for the SOE and BCPA/VAB, the County would need to build a warehouse and parking garage at the Spectrum property. While warehousing is not specifically listed as a permissible use under the AIP zoning, the Office of County Attorney has opined that it may not be an incompatible use and recommend obtaining a zoning determination letter from the City of Fort Lauderdale. The County may also need to purchase additional development rights under the current DRI to construct a warehouse and parking garage.
In addition to the Citrix and Spectrum properties, staff has also been seeking unbuilt or vacant properties. Staff is in the process of negotiating a contract for sale and purchase for 6.75-acre parcel located on Flamingo Road directly west of Young at Art for a purchase price of $6,662,500. The site can be used to construct a new facility for the SOE and/or BCPA, or some other County purpose.
See Exhibit 2 for a detailed analysis on the various scenarios by CMD.
The Office of the County Attorney is in the process of drafting a contract for sale and purchase of the Citrix property. A survey, building inspections and an environmental assessment would be obtained before the closing during the customary due diligence period. There would also be typical closing costs in addition to the purchase price. Broward County Administrative Code, Section 6.23 requires approval by an extraordinary vote of the Board of County Commissioners when the proposed purchase price of a property exceeds the average of the appraisals by more than 10%.
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Purvi A. Bhogaita, Director, Real Property Section, (954) 357-7333
Ariadna Musarra, AIA, Director/County Architect, Construction Management Division, (954) 357-6473
Thomas J. Hutka, P.E., Director, Public Works Department, (954) 357-6410
John Bruno, Chief Information Officer, Enterprise Technology Services Division, (954) 357-8821
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