Opus Lands $307M-Plus Government Lease

BIRMINGHAM, AL-The US General Services Administration has signed a $307.62-million lease agreement with Opus South Corp. for a new 587,000-sf office complex here that will house the Social Security Administration’s 2,200-person Southeast Payment Processing Center. The eight-story building and 1,765-space parking deck will rise between Eighth and Ninth avenues North and 12th and 14th streets North on the edge of the city’s historic Civil Rights District. A source with the GSA tells GlobeSt.com the lease agreement calls for 20 annual payments of $15.38 million. A source at Opus says the project’s development cost is approximately $100 million. Construction is slated to get under way in October for occupancy in late 2007.The existing Southeast Payment Processing Center occupies twice as much space in an older building at 2001 12th Ave. N that has been home to the Southeast Processing Center since 1974. The property is owned by Franklin Haney of Chattanooga, TN. “The building is functionally obsolete and the SSA is downsizing its program requirements,” says the source.Designing for the fact that there are no other high-rise buildings in the Civil Rights District, the streetscape of the building will only be two stories, with the remaining housed in a tower set back to the middle of the two-story podium. Amenities will include a high-tech mail center, full-service cafeteria, child-care center, credit union, a fitness center and an auditorium. Opus is working with architect HOK on the project and will use the design-build approach. Opus South hopes to achieve Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Silver certification for the project by incorporating key environmentally friendly features, such as using a design that takes advantage of the building’s north-south angles to capture as much natural light as possible to increase energy efficiency. Opus South is a part of The Opus Group, a $1.4-billion real estate development company.