Executive Order 15-08 further instructs Central Management Services (CMS) to identify surplus property for auction in compliance with state law. Further, GOMB and CMS will review all property owned or leased by the state and develop a strategy for consolidation and relocation of offices.
Finally, the governor ordered all agencies to reduce energy consumption and spending on energy, including reducing heating, air conditioning, and lighting usage when facilities are not in use.
“Every dollar that we spend unnecessarily in government cannot be used to help our most vulnerable citizens,” Rauner added. “We must take every step necessary to ensure Illinois becomes the most compassionate and competitive state in the nation.”
James R. Thompson Center, architecturally significant to some and an emblem of bureaucratic government excess to others, would be sold and likely demolished to be rebuilt as a privately owned residential, office and retail space under a plan Gov. Bruce Rauner announced Tuesday.
Helmut Jahn's 17-story structure made its 1985 debut as the State of Illinois Building. Its $172 million price tag was more than double the original estimate. The center was renamed for former four-term governor James R. Thompson in 1992. ate law requires three appraisals be obtained if the property is worth $5,000 or more, according to the RFI. The average of the three, plus appraisal costs, determines the fair market value; the building couldn’t be sold for less than that amount.
The 17-story building cost $172 million to develop. Completed in 1985, it is named after James Thompson, the state’s longest-serving governor.
News stories in recent years have noted the building’s condition has deteriorated because the state lacks money for upkeep and repairs. Complaints include ripped and worn carpeting, water leaks and even a bedbug outbreak.
The building includes offices for the governor, the Illinois attorney general and the Illinois secretary of state, among others.
