Budget mandate kicks off overhaul of massive state government complex.

• Author: Campbell, Colin
• Position: NCTREND: N.C. Tribune

The recently enacted state budget's nearly $200 million plan for state government buildings in downtown Raleigh will reshape the area in the coming years. But first it's triggering a rush to move hundreds of state employees ahead of a series of fast-approaching deadlines. Elected officials have debated ways to modernize the state's collection of aging office buildings for years, dating back at least to former Gov. Pat McCrory's "Project Phoenix" idea for mixed-use development.

The new plan was developed by budget writers, legislative staffers and Legislative Services Officer Paul Coble with little public deliberation before it was released in June's budget conference report. It calls for replacing the Administration Building on West Jones Street with a new, $169 million "Education Campus" that will put the UNC System Office under the same roof as the Department of Public Instruction, community college system and Department of Commerce. Senate leader Phil Berger has said he thinks the state's education and economic development leadership can collaborate more...