(The Center Square) – Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin said moving his office from the Tower Building on Center Street to the Boyle Building in downtown Little Rock will save the taxpayers money.
The attorney general said the office will move in late 2024 after Moses Tucker Partners renovates the building.
“Over the past few decades, the taxpayers have paid about $30 million in rent for the Attorney General’s office space,” Griffin said at a news conference. “This move saves taxpayer dollars because the state will eventually own the building and eliminate the annual rent my office pays. In the short term, we will save on rent.”
The state will have the option to purchase the Boyle Building after the fifth year of a 20-year lease, according to Griffin. Once known as the State Bank Building, the building has been empty for 25 years. George Mann, who was also the architect for the state Capitol building, drew the plans for the Boyle Building, too. It was built in 1909.
“In addition to saving tax dollars, this move will save a historic structure at the corner of Capitol and Main in downtown Little Rock, the symbolic center of our capital city,” Griffin said. “It is a win for Little Rock as it will clean up a blighted area downtown and allow for new commercial development on Main Street. As I have often said, ‘as goes our capital city, so goes our state.”
Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders approved the move.
“This is great news for Arkansas taxpayers and the City of Little Rock,” Sanders said. “My administration is always working to find new opportunities to improve government efficiency and this move offers a great example for all of state government.”
