NASHVILLE, TN (WSMV) -
The state is spending millions of dollars to lease private office space even though there are often vacant state buildings just down the street.
Now, state officials are undertaking a massive project to fix this issue.
Taxpayers may wonder if their money is being put to good use, but leaders said the $70 million project, called T3, will save even more money in the long run.
"The idea is good, and the execution of it is very important," said Robert O'Connell, with the Tennessee State Employees Association.
Tennessee spends about $40 million to lease office space despite about 1 million square feet of vacant space in state buildings.
Gov. Bill Haslam said that has to change.
"The truth is the state of Tennessee, we're leasing and owning too much office space, and that's not what the citizens hired us to do," Haslam said.
The so-called "densification" project uses a lot of money up front, and it is changing the entire look and feel of employee workspaces in state buildings.
"What we're doing is changing the footprint of employees, and also - more importantly - changing the way they relate to each other through collaboration," said Tennessee General Services Commissioner Steve Cates.
Even many managers will be trading walled offices for cubicle-sized spaces, but with any big change comes with big concerns.
State employees groups support the idea as long as privacy and other concerns are taken into account.
"All we're saying is look closely. Don't just charge off into it," O'Connell said.
Officials estimate the $70 million price tag for the T3 project is expected to save $100 million over the next decade.
"Our responsibility is to set it up in the most effective way we can," Haslam said.
Other issues that need to be addressed, Haslam said, are the power going out two weeks ago in the Andrew Jackson Building, and the speaker apparently got stuck in an elevator for 30 minutes when trying to see the governor in his relocated office at the Tennessee Towers.
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