State gets OK to lease Dominion Towers

BATON ROUGE -- The state got the go-ahead Wednesday to lease 320,000 square feet of space to house state agencies in Dominion Towers near the Superdome, a building expected to be in the hands of Saints owner Tom Benson by Aug. 1.

Gov. Bobby Jindal signed House Bill 719 by Rep. Charles "Bubba" Chaney, D-Rayville, the final piece of a deal to keep the National Football League franchise in New Orleans through 2025.

Chaney's measure started out as a bill to allow state agencies to sign some professional services contacts for as much as five years. The existing limit is now three years.

The bill was seized by House Speaker Jim Tucker, R-Algiers, in the early stages of the session to authorize a 20-year lease agreement between the state and Benson.

The bill authorizes the state-run Office Facilities Corp. to sign a lease with Benson that will pay about $24 a square foot for the space, roughly two-thirds of the building, to house state agencies displaced by Hurricane Katrina four years ago.

Benson is expected to put about $10 million into renovating the tower, which was damaged and has been unoccupied since Katrina.

The bill also authorizes the state to lease space in the New Orleans Centre and develop it with Benson as an entertainment venue for game days and other events, as well as a parking garage on the site.

Chaney's bill requires the final version of the contract between the Saints and the state to be approved by the Joint Legislative Committee on the Budget. It also requires any contract the state enters for professional services longer than three years, but less than five, to get budget panel approval.

The second element of the Saints deal is the $85 million in state surplus money for renovations to the Superdome to create more box suites and expand arena seating and concession areas. The money is in House Bill 2, the state's $5.3 billion capital construction budget Jindal is expected to sign after cutting specific programs....