December 27, 2009
Montgomery's changing skyline: Bronner sure RSA Judicial Office Building will be a success
By Cosby Woodruff
The Retirement Systems of Alabama is changing Montgomery's skyline again with construction of a new office building above the old Alabama Supreme Court building.
Construction began about 18 months ago on a building that some historical preservationists tried to block but that RSA chief David Bronner was determined to see completed.
Bronner, who oversees the pension giant with buildings that dominate Montgomery's skyline, brushed aside opposition to the project when it was announced a little more than two years ago. Even today he said the building he envisions is better than the alternative.
"You had two choices there," he said. "Either you could build something or you could just let it crumble."
Bronner said he remains convinced the building will eventually prove to be the right idea, but he also knows the timing was anything but perfect.
Even though RSA is not dependent on bank financing to complete its projects, many tenants might find revenue tight when it is time to sign a deal. In general, commercial office space is not a booming business right now.
"It is a terrible time to have any new construction," he said.
That is another good reason for RSA's deep pockets. Private developers who have partially complete buildings must decide whether to put more money into the projects or walk away from money already invested.
Bronner said there was only one choice for his organization.
"We are going to finish it," he said.
The building's impact on Montgomery's skyline, and whether it improves or damages the view, depends on where the viewer is and his or her point of view.
Bronner insists the building will fit in well with other buildings downtown and says from some angles it won't even be obvious there is a new structure. Historic preservationists railed against the building more for how it will fit into its surroundings than the fact it is being built above a historic structure.
"Any time you have a 12-story building, it is going to have some kind of effect," he said.
Renderings by RSA published in a brochure on the building show that parts of the original structure will be retained in the new building.
RSA plans to maintain the courtroom for use by tenants, and a courtyard will make note of the building's past and some of the historic cases heard there.
There is no firm completion date for the building. Bronner said he expects the exterior portions to be complete in the next year. RSA will finish the inside on a floor-by-floor basis as it finds tenants.
"You don't want to just put up a wall somewhere because they might not want a wall there," he said.
Even in good economic times it is unusual to have a building completely rented when it opens. In the down economy, Bronner said it is even less likely to have a long list of tenants when it opens.
"It took us four years to fill up the (RSA) Tower," he said of Montgomery's tallest building.
When the RSA announced the building in late 2007, the estimated cost was $200 million. Bronner said he does not know what the final cost will be.
Joe Toole, a leasing executive with RSA, said the building will have more than 340,000 square feet of space available for tenants. It will also have an attached parking deck to provide spaces for an estimated 1,000 people who will eventually work in the building. When complete, the building will be the eighth RSA office structure in Montgomery.
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