Officials make bids to purchase land for federal office building

Journal Record, The (Oklahoma City), Nov 5, 1999

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) -- Federal officials have mailed purchase offers to eight property holders near the Oklahoma City bombing site in an effort to pick up two blocks of land needed for a new federal office building.

Federal officials said the bids for undisclosed amounts were sent to owners of lots on land bordered by NW 6th and NW 8th streets, Harvey Avenue and Hudson Avenue.

Property owners have 10 working days to respond to the offers, said George Hozendorf, a special assistant regional administrator with the General Services Administration.

Hozendorf would not say how much the offers are, or how much the government has set aside to buy the land for the $40 million building project.

But he did say the offers are an important step in the government's process to replace the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building, which was destroyed April 19, 1995.

Some 168 people were killed and hundreds were injured in the blast.

"This lets Oklahoma City, the involved land owners and future building tenants know that the project is still on track," Hozendorf said.

Plans for the building call for a multiple-story, almost U-shaped structure on the southernmost of the two blocks.

Designers hope to tie the new building in with the bombing memorial, the central business district and the north downtown area.

They also are striving for an inviting design that still incorporates the latest tools to limit injuries and deaths from attack. Glass in the building, for example, will be coated with an epoxy to keep it in place, even after it has been shattered.

The new building will enclose 180,000 square feet.

Agencies expected to relocate to the building include the Small Business Administration, Veterans Affairs, Housing and Urban Development, military recruiting offices, a Military Entrance Processing Station, Indian Health Services, Health and Human Services, the Food and Drug Administration and others.

"Once the land is purchased, we hope we can start clearing the site early while the final designs are wrapped up," he said. "That way, we can make up the time we have lost."

Hozendorf said property owners who don't like the government's offer may negotiate with GSA to see if an agreement can be reached.