A renovation is coming to the old Hanford Community Hospital site as the Kings County Board of Supervisors approved an agreement Tuesday with developer Lacey Campus Partners.
The board had already approved the deal last week but mistakenly did not declare the project as exempt from review under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) – as was required for approval – causing the agreement to come back before the board on Tuesday to remedy the error.
While the 44,000 square-foot building, located at 1222 W. Lacey Blvd. in Hanford, has not been used as a hospital since 1973, various agencies occupied the location, the last of which was the Kings Community Action Organization, which moved out in 2008.
The county morgue also operated in the building’s basement until 2014. Since then, the property has been vacant, and the county said it is deteriorating with time.
With the county’s workforce increasing to around 1,600 full-time employees over the past several years, the county is in need of more office space to accommodate its growth.
Enter Lacey Campus Partners, which is a partnership between local developer Sunny Basra and Orange County-based Paynter Realty and Investments.
Lacey Campus Partners offered to purchase, remodel and restore the building – retaining the structure and style – and lease it back to the county.
According to county documents, the Kings County Behavioral Health Department and the Human Services Agency will occupy the building once the renovations are complete by August of next year.
Behavioral health is currently leasing office space at an outside facility, which costs $566,179 annually.
“By bringing the entire Behavioral health Department on to County grounds, we will ensure County services are all located in one location, providing the County residents the opportunity to find services in a ‘one stop’ location,” the county’s staff report reads.
Along with the entire Behavioral Health Department moving to the facility, the building will also include a children services clinic by provider Mental Health Systems, who will provide specialty mental health services to individuals up to the age of 21.
The Human Services Agency will move its CalWORKs Employment and Training and Housing and Supportive Services Divisions into the new building.
The lease will be for an initial term of 25 years with three five-year options for renewal. The agreement also gives the county the option to purchase the building after 10 years at a price equivalent to the appraised value of the building at the time of purchase.
Lacey Campus Partners will charge the county $102,885 per month for the lease, which will increase by two percent annually.
