Throughout December, government workers in the city of Wilmington will be packing up their offices in a variety of different places around town and getting ready to move to its brand new headquarters.
The City of Wilmington purchased the abandoned PPD headquarters in July for $68 million. While, at this point, there is no official grand opening day, different departments have slowly been moving into the space since the first of the month. By the end of December, the city anticipates that 81% of employees will occupy the building, with the rest to follow shortly after the new year.
The new headquarters sit on 2.5 acres in northern downtown, which includes a 1,022-space parking deck, the 370,000-square-foot office building, and two adjoining development tracts. The parking garage will be open to the public, including for concerts at Riverfront Park and Live Oak Pavilion.
At a recent city council meeting, after a somewhat heated debate, councilors voted to name the building Skyline Center.
Even when all the departments have moved in, the ten-story building is so large that several offices will be vacant. The plan calls for those open spaces to be leased to commercial interests. Meanwhile, the city intends to sell some of the vacated city buildings that the department will be moving out of. The historic Thalian Hall/City Hall building will not be sold.
The city’s purchase price represents a $43.3 million savings over an appraised market value of $111.3 million for the office campus and a $55 million savings over construction alternatives to meet the city’s parking and operational space needs.