The State Building Commission executive subcommittee on an unspecified date deferred a motion to approve a five-year renewal of the Department of Children’s Services (DCS) lease at the UBS Building until a future meeting after the comptroller said a five-year term would be fiscally irresponsible.

Deputy Commissioner John Hall of the Department of General Services presented the lease amendment proposal and said the renewal term would begin Dec. 1, 2025, and that the state planned to reduce the DCS leased footprint from an original 83,000 square feet to approximately 64,000 square feet by relocating the Department of Disability and Aging to the Davy Crockett building. Hall said the broader plan is to renovate the state-owned building at 220 French Landing so multiple agencies can be moved out of leased space into state-owned space.

The comptroller said he could not support a five-year renewal given recent expenditures on vacant leased space and uncertainty about federal funding, calling a long renewal “not responsible.” The comptroller moved to defer the lease-amendment decision to the next meeting of the subcommittee; the secretary seconded the motion and the subcommittee voted to defer. The chair announced the motion passed by voice vote.

Why it matters: the amendment would lock the state into a longer lease term for DCS while agency relocation depends on a capital renovation the administration estimates at roughly $52 million to renovate 220 French Landing. The renewal also affects other state-held leases the administration is trying to exit and involves federal funding considerations for some agency operations.

Details presented by staff and discussed by members

- Deputy Commissioner John Hall said the state will not have ready state-owned space in the Nashville area by the end of the year and therefore seeks the five-year renewal option included in the original 2016 contract to begin Dec. 1, 2025. Hall described the plan to renovate 220 French Landing and to consolidate leased space into state-owned facilities.

- Hall said the UBS lease was initially procured primarily for TennCare and that the state had reduced the UBS bill by moving other agencies into the building; he said DCS is approximately 50% federally funded, which affects cost comparisons.

- Hall described the $52 million figure as an initial estimate for renovating the Labor and Workforce building (identified in the presentation as 220 French Landing) and said the administration will attempt to refine and reduce that cost during programming.

- The comptroller and at least one other member urged caution because of the states recent spending on vacant leased space and potential federal budget cuts. The comptroller specifically suggested a shorter renewal or further analysis and requested a one-page visual summary of the various buildings, costs and next steps.

Action taken

- Motion: defer consideration of the DCS lease amendment to the next meeting of the executive subcommittee (motion moved by the Comptroller; seconded by the Secretary).
- Outcome: motion to defer passed (voice vote). The substantive proposal to approve a five-year renewal was not adopted and will return at a later meeting for further consideration.

What was not specified in the meeting record

- The exact vote tally by named members was not specified (vote recorded by voice).
- The precise number of DCS staff accommodated by the 64,000 square feet was not specified.

Speakers

- Chair — Chair, State Building Commission Executive Subcommittee (government)
- Chloe Schafer — Meeting staff/coordinator (government)
- Deputy Commissioner John Hall — Deputy Commissioner, Department of General Services (government)
- Comptroller — Comptroller (government)
- Secretary — Secretary (government)
- Treasurer — Treasurer (government)
- Commissioner (unnamed) — Commissioner (government)

Authorities

- {"type":"bylaw","name":"SBC bylaws, policies and procedures","referenced_by":["dcs-lease-renewal-deferred"]}
- {"type":"contract","name":"Existing UBS Building lease (2016) and renewal option","referenced_by":["dcs-lease-renewal-deferred"]}

Actions

- {"kind":"other","motion":"Consider approval of a five-year renewal option for the Department of Children’s Services lease at the UBS Building beginning 12/01/2025 (lease amendment)","identifiers":{},"motion_text":"Approve five-year renewal option starting 12/01/2025 for DCS UBS lease","mover":"Comptroller (moved to defer)","second":"Secretary (seconded deferral)","vote_record":[],"outcome":"postponed","notes":"Motion to defer consideration to the next meeting passed by voice vote; substantive renewal not approved at this meeting."}

Clarifying details

- {"category":"renewal_start","detail":"Renewal term would start 12/01/2025","value":"2025-12-01","units":"date","approximate":false,"source_speaker":"Deputy Commissioner John Hall"}
- {"category":"square_footage","detail":"Reduction of DCS lease from original 83,000 sq ft to approximately 64,000 sq ft","value":64000,"units":"sq ft","approximate":true,"source_speaker":"Deputy Commissioner John Hall"}
- {"category":"capital_estimate","detail":"Initial estimate to renovate 220 French Landing","value":52000000,"units":"USD","approximate":true,"source_speaker":"Deputy Commissioner John Hall"}

Proper_names

- {"name":"UBS Building","type":"location"}
- {"name":"War Memorial Building","type":"facility"}
- {"name":"220 French Landing","type":"location"}
- {"name":"200 Athens Way","type":"location"}
- {"name":"Department of Children’s Services","type":"agency"}
- {"name":"Department of General Services","type":"agency"}
- {"name":"Department of Disability and Aging","type":"agency"}
- {"name":"TennCare","type":"agency"}

Community_relevance

- geographies: ["Nashville"]
- funding_sources: ["state capital funds","federal funding (agency-specific)"]
- impact_groups: ["state agency staff","taxpayers"]

Meeting_context

- engagement_level: {"speakers_count":7,"duration_minutes":70,"items_count":1}
- implementation_risk":"medium"
- history: [{"date":"not specified","note":"Lease originally procured in 2016 with renewal option"}]

Searchable_tags

- ["DCS","lease renewal","UBS Building","220 French Landing","state leases"]

Provenance

- transcript_segments: [{"block_id":"859.54504","local_start":0,"local_end":200,"evidence_excerpt":"The next lease we have is for the department of children's services, that will expire at the November this year. When this lease was procured in 2016, we built in an agreement for a 5 year renewal option...","reason_code":"topicintro"},{"block_id":"1665.855","local_start":0,"local_end":120,"evidence_excerpt":"All in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed? Okay it passes.","reason_code":"topicfinish"}]

Topics

- topic_primary: "state-leases"
- topics: [{"name":"state-leases","justification":"Central policy decision about renewing a major state lease for the Department of Children’s Services at the UBS Building","scoring":{"topic_relevance":0.95,"depth_score":0.80,"opinionatedness":0.05,"controversy":0.75,"civic_salience":0.80,"impactfulness":0.70,"geo_relevance":1.00}}]

Salience

- overall:0.65,"overall_justification":"Decision affects multi-year lease commitments and a multi-million-dollar capital renovation plan; comptroller raised fiscal concerns."