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Fund to cash in on new building
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Posted on Dec 02 1998
The Northern Mariana Islands Retirement Fund is aiming to recoup the $3.4 million it spent for a three-story building from lease proceeds on extra space, Administrator Edward Manglona said yesterday.
It was estimated that construction costs would have been recovered in 10 years by leasing out the second and third floors of the building, said Manglona, who will retire on Dec. 24.
The typhoon-proof NMIRF building on Capitol Hill was inaugurated yesterday, the same day that the Fund moved in.
Government officials, led by Gov. Pedro P. Tenorio and some past public officials, attended the ceremony.
Manglona said several agencies have already signified intention to lease. One of them is the Public School System.
“We’ve got inquiries from various agencies and one of them is PSS. But it appears their inquiry now is not that serious because of their financial problems,” Manglona said.
The building is equipped with elevator and has 24-hour power and water supply and broad parking space.
Already, NMIRF is considering a lease rate of $1.61 per sq. ft.
But, Manglona said he will recommend to pare it down to a reasonable level while the CNMI grapples with an economic crisis.
“The going rate right now is about $1.61 per sq. ft. But I’ll be recommending to the board to lower that until the economy becomes better. We’ll probably recommend $1.25 per sq. ft. at least for the first few years,” Manglona said.
“I would like to see tenants so that the Fund generate revenues to slowly recover the cost and at the same time pay for the upkeep of the building. We want to maintain the building as it is now,” he added.
Construction of the building took about two years. It had its groundbreaking on Dec. 6, 1996.
Its original target date of completion was August this year. But technical problems and onset of typhoons lengthened the construction phase.
With the building, Manglona said the Fund will be able to save on rental payments.
He hoped that the new building will lead to better service for the 1,500 retirees and more than 5,000 government employees.
