I wrote this factual article several years ago. The Aiken Corp and the City of Aiken have gone ahead with the $20M, 36,000 sq ft building, on Newberry Street without any lease in hand. It is a speculative venture.
The Department of Energy/Battelle/Savanah River Nuclear Lab’s New Building OR
Non-Profit Corporate Landlords work with City Government to Make Millions.
Let’s start by briefly reviewing some facts and history and then introducing the major players.
Brace yourself for many acronyms and a lot of zeros standing for millions and billions of dollars.
Some Facts and History:
· The Department of Energy (DOE) owns the 198,000-acre Savanah River Site (SRS), a fully secured facility 13 miles south of the City of Aiken situated in Aiken, Allendale and Barnwell Counties with 11,000 workers and a $5,000,000,000 annual budget.
“SRS was established in the early 1950’s to produce the materials used in the fabrication of nuclear weapons primarily (radioactive) tritium and plutonium-239 in support of our nation’s security….” 1
· In the early 2000s more plutonium (Pu) was shipped to SRS for potential processing into mixed-oxide fuel (MOX). The intention was to convert surplus Plutonium into fuel for nuclear power generating reactors. By 2018 the MOX project was $13,000,000,000 over budget and 32 years behind schedule. A 2002 SC statute stipulated that if the MOX facility did not achieve its goals, DOE would be required to remove the plutonium from SC. DOE has not met its deadlines for removing the Pu. Because of this, the largest settlement in state history was reached between DOE and SC in 2020. SC received $600,000,000 and DOE now has until 2037 to safely remove the Pu from SC.2
· The $600,000,000 was disbursed to Aiken, Allendale, Barnwell, Bamburg, Colleton, Edgefield, Hampton, and Orangeburg Counties and Batesburg-Leesville.
The City of Aiken was awarded $29,500,000 for the “SRS corridor Whiskey Road congestion relief/Powderhouse Road Connector” and $25,000,000 for “Redevelopment and Economic Development in downtown and Aiken’s Northside towards I-20.” An additional $20,000,000 was awarded for “off-site infrastructure improvement for SRS/National Lab including the Aiken Technology/Innovation Corridor.” 3
· After the MOX project, DOE is now refocusing on the Savannah River Plutonium Processing Facility (SRPPF) to manufacture plutonium pits for the National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA) long-term strategy for nuclear stockpile sustainment. In 2025 the primary authority of SRNS will be completely transferred to the National Nuclear Security Administration.4 Work has begun to prepare the Savannah River Plutonium Processing Facility (SRPPF) at SRS for its future national security mission: the manufacturing of plutonium pits for the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA).5 In plain language this means the mission of the SRS is changing. For decades they have focused on clean up and safe storage of nuclear waste and now a primary focus will be on making bomb components.
Now, the major players:
· SRS is currently part of the “DOE Complex”. It is run by three Consortiums, or groups of contractors: 1. Savannah River Nuclear Solutions (SRNS) (President and CEO, Mr. Stuart MacVean, formerly also serving on the City of Aiken’s Municipal Development Commission (AMDC)) 2. Savannah River Mission Completions (SRMC) 3. Savanah River National Laboratory (SRNL, sometimes just called “the Lab”) which is managed by Battelle and called Battelle Savanah River Alliance (BSRA)7. The Lab was founded in 1951 and currently employs about 1100 workers.6 As mentioned above, The Lab was awarded $20,000,000 for “off-site infrastructure improvement for SRS/National Lab including the Aiken technology/Innovation Corridor.”
Dr. Vahid Majidi is Laboratory Director and President of Battelle Savannah River Alliance, Ms. Sharon Marra is the Deputy Director of Operations, Mr. Christopher O’Neil is the Director of Office Communications at SRNL.
· City of Aiken. City Manager, Mr. Bedenbaugh, Mayor, Mr. Osbon, Economic Development Director and former Executive Director of the Aiken Municipal Development Commission (AMDC), Mr. O’Briant.
· The Aiken Corporation of South Carolina (Aiken Corp) is a non-profit 501c3 development corporation. The Aiken Corp was established to diversify and expand the City’s economic base and improve the quality of life in Aiken 8. The Chairman is Mr. “Buzz” Rich and the Treasurer is Mr. Jason Rabun. LED of Aiken, Inc is a for profit Corporation with the registered Agent being The Aiken Corp. They have the same Board of Directors, meeting times, address, etc. LED is described as a sub-chapter S Corporation of the Aiken Corporation according to lease agreements. The Aiken Downtown Development Association (ADDA) is a committee of the Aiken Corp. You may remember the ADDA published the embarrassingly skewed information regarding the public opinion survey they conducted on the Pascalis Project.
· McMillan Pazdan Smith is an architecture, planning and interior design firm. Mr. KJ Jacobs is a Principal and lead designer.
And so, our story begins.
This would be an easy story to tell if it was just one story. The problem is, every one of these “players” tells it differently. What is really happening, do any of them really know, and how do we, the public, find out?
Let’s begin with Mayor Osbon’s January 23, 2023, State of the City address. Osbon hands the podium over to Councilman Woltz for the big reveal because Osbon’s business’ conflict of interest with his self-described “friendly competitor” Warneke Cleaners (then they announce they plan to demolish Warneke). Woltz tells us the city will explore building a new high tech workforce development center downtown to house elements of the SRNL using $20M in Pu settlement funding set aside by the State for that purpose. The SRNL proposal will be considered by City Council in future weeks. SRNL is envisioning a work force development building (WDB) that will provide a pipeline for new talent and develop the existing employee base. It is envisioned as a hub for the Labs’ collaboration with academic and industrial partners. 80-100 (existing) employees will enable the planned activities. Dr. Majidi is introduced and tells us the downtown facility will serve as the community face of SRNL. His goals include hosting scientific gatherings, technical discussions and poster presentations. The WDB will have classroom space for training sessions for “international partners” that cannot get security clearance to enter SRS and it will be home to SRNL’s technology transfer office where lab inventions and discoveries are licensed. Within the building, SRNL will maintain “property-controlled areas” to house government equipment and projects10. The plan calls for demolition of Warneke cleaners and Taj Aiken (The Old Gun Shop) and the old motel on Bee Lane. Warneke cleaners will be relocated to a newly created retail space facing Richland Ave (this is vague and later proven untrue). The city will create needed additional parking by developing a surface lot across from St John’s Methodist Church (goodbye trees) and a parking structure for 250-300 cars at the existing parking area on Chesterfield Street.
Osbon also promises an RFP for the Hotel Aiken by March 23, 2023. 11
Woltz proclaims that he will be asking City staff to schedule a public forum within the next two weeks to gather input, thoughts, and concerns as they begin to look at these possibilities as a city and as a council, and…believe it or not, they had an architect hired (actually was hired months earlier) and lined up to speak to the public in just 14 days!
And now, KJ Jacobs from the Greenville office of McMillian Pazdan Smith (MPS) enters our story. He is the one chosen to hold an information session on February 6, two weeks after the mayor’s speech. You may remember KJ as the architect that recommended demolition of the Old Aiken Hospital back in May 2019? The Aiken Standard reports that KJ was hired by the city to develop a feasibility study for the SRNL project in their February 6, 2023, article. KJ Is quoted in the article saying that SRNL is interested in a site with a high degree of visibility and the plan revealed by Osbon and Woltz was merely ideas not a commitment. KJ told us that the feasibility study was to determine if it is possible to build the Workforce Development Center in downtown Aiken. His next steps will be a historical survey and condition assessment and working with potential tenants of the national lab to determine space needs. He shows a graphic with a timeline. A preliminary feasibility study will be developed in April and presented for public comment, a final study will be developed with more public input sought by May, and then planning for development would begin.
In March, Aiken’s City Council voted 4-0 to gift The Aiken Corp $250,000 of taxpayer’s money to fund the MPS Study. The original price estimate from MPS was $50,000-$75,000. This would be a violation of City Ordinance Sec.2-348, that requires a fair bidding process for work costing more than $25,000 if the City awarded the contract itself.12 Only four council members vote to give away our money as the other three have conflicts of interest. Osbon, who is planning to demolish (in a friendly way) his only competition in the dry-cleaning business, and City Councilwomen Price and Diggs who had been providing equal opportunity credentials as Board members for the Aiken Corp. Price and Diggs had voted as Directors of Aiken Corp to enter this potentially lucrative partnership with the city and appear to have intended to also vote as City Council members on the other side of the agreement, until an informed citizen pointed out the obvious conflict of interest. Price and Diggs were then forced to resign from the Aiken Corp Board. The Aiken Standard reports on March 16, 2023, that the $250,000 agreement calls for the Aiken Corp to “assist the city with engagement and communication with the public” and “Pre-development work on the Workforce Development Center.”
And then, months go by. No RFP for the hotel is issued in March, and no preliminary feasibility study is forthcoming in April. No proposal is considered by City Council. An email address is provided for community input by MPS, but after March, emails receive no replies. There are now some discrepancies in our evolving story. We have a $250,000 taxpayer funded study that the mayor did not mention in his February presentation. KJ’s words “historical study” have not been brought up again. The city is no longer running the project…or is it? We’ve moved from a study KJ Jacobs described as “to determine if it is possible to build” to “pre-development work”. There is no engagement or communication with the public, and that’s about to get worse.
Stay tuned for our next update coming soon!
By May, citizens are starting to wonder what’s up? On May 10, the monthly meeting of the Aiken Corp Board is held, and we are clever enough to attend. We are surprised to learn that KJ Jacobs will be updating the Board with a 30-minute teleconference. The City of Aiken’s Economic Development Director, Tim O’Briant, (who you remember from the flaming crash of the AMDC, the $9.6M Pascalis “no appraisals needed” properties purchase, the described non-constitutional agreements drawn for tenants of Pascalis properties, and the “preferred developer” choice announced days before a RFP was put out for work on the $100,000,000 Pascalis Project), is working closely with KJ Jacobs and could be described as supervising him and hosting the teleconference portion of the meeting. This is the first and only information since February.
KJ Jacobs describes the private meetings he’s been having with stakeholders, such as Sharon Marra from SRNL, whom he has met with several times to discuss the SRNL’s needs for space. Tim O’Briant informs all that “not inexpensive” laser scans have now been done on all of the buildings involved, including Warneke Cleaners and Taj Indian Restaurant, both of which KJ Jacobs later tells us “Could be affected (code for demolished)” by the project. Mr. O’Briant states, “…The Aiken Corporation is undertaking pre-development exploration, they’ve engaged MPS and much like the AMENTUM model the Aiken Corp will present the results…to the City, because this is a City project…The Aiken Corp won’t be building a building…you (Aiken Corp) will bring recommendations to the City Council…(the city) would then undertake the project…if we follow the AMENTUM model there could be a role for the Aiken Corp in managing that facility after it is constructed.” The Aiken Standard also reports on what they describe as the AMENTUM Model. O’Briant’s statements contradict the contract between the City and Aiken Corp, in which they are described as the Developer.
So, what is the “AMENTUM model”? Let’s start by understanding a little about AMENTUM. The building located at 106 Newberry Street is currently labelled the AMENTUM building. That privately held company has leased about 20,000 sq ft of office space at that location for their corporate headquarters, housing ten employees and for corporate meetings. AMENTUM performs work for the Government and in Aiken they work mainly for the Department of Energy. AMENTUM, AECOM, URS, and a laundry list of related companies have leased the space since 2001.
Now, to attempt to describe “the model”. The city built the building that covers both 106 and 126 Newberry Street. In 2001 the city leased part of the structure, 126 Newberry Street, to the Aiken Community Playhouse for $1/year, which is also their current rate. In December 2000, the city created a 99 year “ground lease agreement” between itself and the Aiken Corp’s newly formed “subchapter” LED, inc. at a rate of $1.00/year. Tax rolls list The Aiken Corporation as the owner of the building. The Aiken Corp “subchapter” LED then sublet the building to the original AMENTUM company called Washington Group. Today, LED continues to pay the city $1/year for the ground lease and continues to collect rent, at the present rate of $20,500/month, or $246,000/year, from AMENTUM. AMENTUM also pays an amount equal to the annual real estate tax due to the city which is about $30,000/year.
Let’s consider how the AMENTUM model will be applied to the proposed SRNL building. In this case, we must make some assumptions. Following the model, the new 45,000 sq ft building could be rented as office space at the going rate of $1/sq ft, so rent paid by SRNL to the LED “subchapter” of the Aiken Corp would be between $30,000 and $45,000/month, or $360,000 to $540,000/year. The city and the Aiken Corp both assert that the building will be completely paid for with the $20,000,000 Pu funds allocated to SRNL for off-site infrastructure, but SRNL will not own the building. The building will be owned, as the AMENTUM building is, by LED. The value of the land on which the building will be built could be estimated as the price paid for it (with our money) by the city in November 2021 which is more than $4,000,000. The city will still own the land but will lease it for 99 years to LED/The Aiken Corp for $1/year. The city will benefit by collecting real estate taxes and will retain ownership of the land. SRNL will probably also pay an amount equal to the annual real estate tax due to the city, estimated at about $50,000/year.
Just for fun let’s think of some hypothetical future situations. First let’s calculate how many years the city will need to collect the property tax in order to repay the citizens for the expense of the land. $4,000,000/$50,000 = 80 years. In 80 years, at the assumed rate of $40,000/month “Buzz” Rich’s Aiken Corp will have collected $38,400,000 in rent.
Mr. Rich has recently written in the Aiken Standard, as has Mr. Jason Rabun who wears many hats,, including being the Treasurer of the Aiken Corp,
The City of Aiken, the non-profit Aiken Corporation, and their for profit “subchapter” LED have an intriguing relationship.
Their current rent payment is equal to $1/sq ft of office space totaling $20,500/month. They also pay an amount equivalent to the annual property taxes of about $30,000/year.
We learn more City Ordinances have been violated involving no bid contracts awarded to MPS for work on assessing the Hotel Aiken and also in assisting Cranston Engineering with the design of the 200 car parking structure. For a full transcription of KJ Jacob’s presentation see my article in the Aiken Chronicles.
The
1Savannah River Site | Department of Energy History | Department of Energy
4NNSA to take over ownership of Savannah River from DOE-EM -- ANS / Nuclear Newswire
5Savannah River facility prepped for NNSA project -- ANS / Nuclear Newswire
6srs-overview-fact-sheet (energy.gov)
7Leadership Team - Battelle Savannah River Alliance (battellesra.org)
9Entity Profile - Business Entities Online - S.C. Secretary of State (sc.gov)
12ARTICLE VI. - FINANCE | Code of Ordinances | Aiken, SC | Municode Library
Part One:
Over the last seven months this story has continually evolved, with each of the major players telling it somewhat differently. The first public information was the announcement on January 23, 2023, at the State of the City Address, but the AMDC, the Aiken Corp and SRNL had been working together on the project for many months prior and had an architectural firm under contract by December.
The Mayor’s State of the City Address
At the January 23, 2023, State of the City address, the mayor handed the podium over to the Councilman Woltz for a big reveal. Mayor Osbon, owner of Osbon Dry Cleaning, had a conflict of interest with his self-described “friendly competitor” Warneke Cleaners, which prevented him personally from announcing that he planned to demolish it. Woltz told the audience that they would explore building a new high tech workforce development center downtown to house elements of the SRNL using $20M in Pu settlement funding set aside by the State for that purpose. The SRNL proposal would be considered by the City Council in future weeks. SRNL was envisioning a work force development building (WDB) that would provide a pipeline for new talent and would develop the existing employee base. It was envisioned as a hub for the Labs’ collaboration with academic and industrial partners. 80-100 (existing) employees would enable the planned activities.
Next, Dr. Majidi was introduced, and he told the audience the downtown facility would serve as the community face of SRNL. His goals included hosting scientific gatherings, technical discussions and poster presentations. The WDB would have classroom space for training sessions for international partners that cannot get security clearance to enter SRS. It would be home to SRNL’s technology transfer office where lab inventions and discoveries are licensed. Within the building, SRNL would maintain “property-controlled areas” to house government equipment and projects10.
The plan called for demolition of Warneke cleaners, Taj Aiken (The Aiken Standard building) and the old motel on Bee Lane. Warneke cleaners would be relocated to a newly created retail space facing Richland Ave (this was vague and was later proven untrue). The city would create needed additional parking by developing a surface lot across from St John’s Methodist Church and a parking structure for 250-300 cars at the existing parking area on Chesterfield Street.
Woltz told the audience that he would be asking city staff to schedule a public forum in the next two weeks to gather input, thoughts, and concerns as they begin to look at these possibilities as a city and as a council. Within two weeks a public forum is scheduled and conducted by the architect KJ Jacobs from the Greenville office of McMillian Pazdan Smith.
During the State of the City address Osbon also promises an RFP for the Hotel Aiken within 6-8 weeks (March 23) 11
The Public Forum
The well-attended Public Forum was conducted by Jacobs on February 6 at the Center for African American History, Art and Culture. Jacobs worked in Aiken in May 2019 and was the architect that recommended demolition of the Old Aiken Hospital. In an article dated February 6, 2023, The Aiken Standard reported that Jacobs was hired by the city to develop a feasibility study for the SRNL project. Jacobs is quoted in the article saying that SRNL is interested in a site with a high degree of visibility and the plans revealed by Osbon and Woltz were merely ideas and not a commitment. Jacobs stated the feasibility study was to determine if it is possible to build the Workforce Development Center in downtown Aiken, and that his next steps would be a historical survey and a condition assessment, and he was planning on working with potential tenants at the lab to determine their needs for space. He presented a timeline showing a preliminary feasibility study report due by mid-April, a second public input meeting on the first of May, a final report issued mid-May and a third public input meeting by the end of May, with Site planning beginning at that time.
The $250,000 Feasibility Study
In March, Aiken’s City Council voted 4-0 to give The Aiken Corp $250,000 of taxpayer’s money to fund Jacob’s study. The original price estimate was $50,000-$75,000. This would have been a potential violation of City Ordinance Sec.2-348, which requires a fair bidding process for work costing more than $25,000 if the City had awarded the contract itself.12 Only four council members voted to spend tax dollars because the other three had conflicts of interest. Osbon, who was planning to demolish (in a friendly way) his only competition, and City Councilwomen Price and Diggs who had been providing equal opportunity credentials as Board members for the Aiken Corp. Price and Diggs had voted as Directors of Aiken Corp to enter this potentially lucrative partnership with the city and appear to have intended to also vote as City Council members on the other side of the agreement, until a citizen pointed out that potential conflict of interest. Councilwomen Price and Diggs then resigned from the Aiken Corp Board. The Aiken Standard reported on March 16, 2023, that the $250,000 agreement calls for the Aiken Corp to “assist the city with engagement and communication with the public” and “Pre-development work on the Workforce Development Center.”
Months pass by and questions add up
Months passed by. In March, no RFP for the hotel was issued and emails sent by the public to nationallabaikenproject@macmillanpazdansmith.com were no longer answered. In April, no preliminary feasibility study was issued. In May, no public input session was scheduled. No proposal was considered by the City Council. Jacob’s timeline was not followed or even mentioned again. The questions and concerns raised by the public at the February 6th forum were never answered or addressed.
Discrepancies lead to questions as the story continues to evolve. Why did taxpayers fund the $250,000 feasibility study and why wasn’t it mentioned in the Mayor’s February presentation? Why and when did the Aiken Corp become involved? Who is running the project? What was the purpose of the public forum? Was Jacobs “historic study” conducted and if so, what were the results? Jacob’s feasibility study, which we were told was intended to determine “if it is possible to build” has evolved to “pre-development work.”
To date, there is still no engagement or communication with the public and these questions remain unanswered.
1Savannah River Site | Department of Energy History | Department of Energy
4NNSA to take over ownership of Savannah River from DOE-EM -- ANS / Nuclear Newswire
5Savannah River facility prepped for NNSA project -- ANS / Nuclear Newswire
6srs-overview-fact-sheet (energy.gov)
7Leadership Team - Battelle Savannah River Alliance (battellesra.org)
9Entity Profile - Business Entities Online - S.C. Secretary of State (sc.gov)
Part 2:
May, four month after the Mayor’s announcement of the City’s plan to explore building a new high tech workforce development center downtown to house elements of the SRNL using $20M in Pu settlement funds, $25,000 of taxpayer funds have been spent, there is no progress on the Hotel Aiken and citizens are starting to wonder what’s up?
The Aiken Corporation Meeting
On May 10, a monthly meeting of the Aiken Corp Board was held that included a 30-minute teleconference with Jacobs, the architect conducting the ongoing and overdue feasibility study. The City of Aiken’s Economic Development Director, Tim O’Briant, (former Executive Director of the AMDC) was working closely with Jacobs and appeared to be supervising him and hosting the teleconference portion of the meeting.
Jacobs describes the private meetings he’s had with stakeholders, such as Sharon Marra and others from SRNL who he had met several times to discuss SRNL’s need for space allocation. O’Briant informs all that laser scans, which he describes as “not inexpensive”, have been done on all the buildings involved. This included Warneke Cleaners and Taj Indian Restaurant, both of which Jacobs later tells us could be affected (demolished) by the project.
O’Briant say, “…The Aiken Corporation is undertaking pre-development exploration, they’ve engaged MPS and much like the Amentum model the Aiken Corp will present the results…to the City, because this is a City project…The Aiken Corp won’t be building a building…you (Aiken Corp) will bring recommendations to the City Council…(the city) would then undertake the project…if we follow the Amentum model there could be a role for the Aiken Corp in managing that facility after it is constructed.” O’Briant’s statements contradict the contract between the City and Aiken Corp, in which they are described as the Developer.
The Aiken Standard reports on June 6, 2023 that Aiken could be looking at a know model as it develops plans to construct a mixed-use building in which the SRNL could rent space for a workforce development center. what they describe as the Amentum Model. O’Briant’s statements contradict the contract between the City and Aiken Corp, in which they are described as the Developer.
So, what is the “Amentum model?” Let’s start by understanding a little about Amentum. The building located at 106 Newberry Street is currently labelled the Amentum building. That privately held company has leased about 20,000 sq ft of office space at that location for their corporate headquarters, housing ten employees and for corporate meetings. Amentum performs work for the Government and in Aiken they work mainly for the Department of Energy. Amentum, AECOM, URS, and a laundry list of related companies have leased the space since 2001.
Now, to attempt to describe “the model”. The city built the building that covers both 106 and 126 Newberry Street. In 2001 the city leased part of the structure, 126 Newberry Street, to the Aiken Community Playhouse for $1/year, which is still their current rate. In December 2000, the city created a 99 year “ground lease agreement” between itself and the Aiken Corp’s newly formed “subchapter” LED, inc. at a rate of $1.00/year. Tax rolls list The Aiken Corporation as the owner of the building. The Aiken Corp “subchapter” LED then sublet the building to the original Amentum company called Washington Group. Today, LED continues to pay the city $1/year for the ground lease and continues to collect rent, at the present rate of $20,500/month, or $246,000/year, from Amentum. Amentum also pays Aiken Corp/LED an amount equal to the annual real estate tax due to the city which is about $30,000/year.
Let’s consider how the Amentum model will be applied to the proposed SRNL building. In this case, we must make some assumptions. Following the model, the new 45,000 sq ft building could be rented as office space at the going rate of $1/sq ft, so rent paid by SRNL to the LED “subchapter” of the Aiken Corp would be between $30,000 and $45,000/month, or $360,000 to $540,000/year. The city and the Aiken Corp both assert that the building will be completely paid for with the $20,000,000 Pu funds allocated to SRNL for off-site infrastructure, but SRNL will not own the building. The building will be owned, as the Amentum building is, by LED. The value of the land on which the building will be built could be estimated as the price paid for it (with our money) by the city in November 2021 which is more than $4,000,000. The city will still own the land but will lease it for 99 years to LED/The Aiken Corp for $1/year. The city will benefit by collecting real estate taxes and will retain ownership of the land. SRNL will probably also pay an amount equal to the annual real estate tax due to the city, estimated at about $50,000/year.
Just for fun, let’s think of some hypothetical future situations. First let’s calculate how many years the city will need to collect the property tax in order to repay the citizens for the expense of the land. $4,000,000/$50,000 = 80 years. In 80 years, at the assumed rate of $40,000/month “Buzz” Rich’s Aiken Corp/LED will have collected $38,400,000 in rent. Presently, Battelle has the $3,800,000,000 10-year contract to manage SRNL. They are on year three. The first five years of the contract (2020-2025) are guaranteed, but the second five years (2025-2030) are not. At the current pace this building may not even be built be 2025, and a new management company may not be interested in continuing to lease this 45,000 sq ft building in the future. Rent of $500,000/year does seem a luxury for a meeting space and "public face" in little downtown Aiken. Another management company may not think that is a priority. We will have another Presidential election in 2024, and possibly a new administration in 2025. This always brings major changes to the priorities and funding for DOE. And don't forget the taxpayer funded 250-300 car parking garage. Does the Aiken Corp/LED have the ability to rent out this much expensive office space? Can they just sell the building for $20,000,000? If so, to whom?
Stay tuned for Part 3!
https://www.postandcourier.com/aikenstandard/news/local-government/aiken-could-follow-amentum-building-example-on-new-downtown-project/article_f4f9e836-00ac-11ee-9a8c-8f08342b9b1e.html
Part 3
On July 6, 2023, The Aiken Corp/LED Director, Mr. Rich writes us all an Editorial in the Aiken Standard, but let's talk about Mr. Jason Rabun Guest Column on June 24 first. According to the Chamber of Commerce website Mr. Rabun wears many hats, being both a Director and the Treasurer of the Aiken Corp and LED, Vice-Chairman of the Aiken Planning Commission, Chairman of the Chamber of Commerce Executive Committee, Director of the Aiken Downtown Development Association, Chairman of the Fermata Club, and a Director of the Kisner Foundation.
Mr. Rabun's article refers to the SRNL building as a "mixed-use development project for downtown Aiken", and he believes it is appealing in a number of ways that will keep Aiken from fading away over time, like so many other Main Streets across the country have. He believes that we should "level up" and secure a brighter future for our community. Interestingly, besides the new name given the SRNL project, the language that Mr. Rabun chooses is that SRNL is "one of the potential tenants of the office building" and "they (SRNL) are considering establishing a workforce development center there".
Mr. Rich's editorial, published on July 6, 2023, also has some interesting phrasing. He is also now using the "mixed-use development project" name and claims that someday the facility might even boast housing the SRNL's workforce development center! Mr. Rich believes that people are concerned that the city could lose valuable tax dollars if the mixed-use project is built, but he's here to reassure us that is not the case. He tells us the "biggest local tax bill...is owned by the City of Aiken and operated by the Aiken Corporation of South Carolina." It's the Amentum office facility, and is the proactive, innovative way a piece of government owned real estate (by which he must be referring to the land only which is leased for 99 years) is contributing to the community through the payment of annual taxes, equaling $37,525 (reimbursed by Amentum) just last year. His Aiken Corp (no mention of LED) is also paying off the mortgage at no cost to the taxpayers, and the multi-million-dollar building will be paid off in less than three years! Then follows a paragraph about the generous community minded Board of Directors and we move back to the Amentum model and the new SRNL building. "Recently we were asked by City Council to assist with the preliminary work for a proposed office building in Aiken for the use of the SRNL...we agreed to work with City Council for the purpose of hiring an architectural firm for preliminary study, a communications firm to provide accurate information on the project to the public and an attorney to assist us with the preparation of a proposed lease with SRNL." "The city will handle the construction and there is a possibility that we (Aiken Corp) will collect lease payments from SRNL and other tenants...which we have had for 23 years with the Amentum building." "Folks, it's just a fact that this model is a win-win...and this time it's even better.... the state has allocated $20,000,000 and there will be no debt to pay down..."
Now, that's a lot to unpack! First, the name and description have changed from, "A new high tech workforce development center downtown to house elements of the SRNL" to "A mixed-use development project for downtown Aiken". SRNL is now "One of the potential tenants" that "might someday be housed in the mixed-use facility". Some of the details that Mr. Rabun and Mr. Rich did not mention are that the Aiken Corp, and its "S" Chapter LED are collecting $20,500/month rent because they own the building. Why wouldn't they pay for it? He tells us taxes are paid to the city on the building, however they do not come out of the Aiken Corp/LED's profit and are a small percentage of the rent not being paid to city taxpayers. We can agree with Mr. Rich that the Aiken Corp should be celebrating that the SRNL building will be paid in full by the $20,000,000 Pu settlement. That is a win for the Aiken Corp/LED who could make more than half a million dollars per year on rent. It is not clear how the $20,000,000, originally allocated for SRNL off-site infrastructure will be used to pay for a mixed-use development project for downtown Aiken, that may or may not house SRNL.
The one important detail that neither of these Directors tell us is the one thing we all want to know! Rich goes into some detail about the pride of a job well done that the volunteer community minded directors feel, but in mine and others research, we have yet to discover exactly what the Aiken Corp/LED does for the community? In theory, the Amentum model as it is, and applied to the SRNL building, should be giving a fortune back to our town. Where is the money going? Why doesn't the Aiken Corporation publicize any of the good that they are doing specifically? Beyond paying the real estate taxes on their corporate rental buildings what exactly is this non-profit organization doing for us?
With millions of dollars in potential rent income on the line is the Aiken Corporation the best group to conduct our $250,000 feasibility study.
Mr. Rich tells us some details about the intended allocation of our $250,000. "We agreed to work with City Council for the purpose of hiring a... communications firm to provide accurate information on the project to the public..." A concerned citizen asked City Council on July 10, why we have no information and no feasibility study. His answer was the same given by the Mayor's on July 15 in the Aiken Standard,
The City of Aiken, the non-profit Aiken Corporation, and their for profit “subchapter” LED have an intriguing relationship.
Their current rent payment is equal to $1/sq ft of office space totaling $20,500/month. They also pay an amount equivalent to the annual property taxes of about $30,000/year.
We learn more City Ordinances have been violated, involving no bid contracts awarded to MPS for work on assessing the Hotel Aiken and also in assisting Cranston Engineering with the design of the 200 car parking structure. For a full transcription of KJ Jacob’s presentation see my article entitled “What is the status of the Savannah River National Lab building downtown? | The Aiken Chronicles”.
The
1Savannah River Site | Department of Energy History | Department of Energy
4NNSA to take over ownership of Savannah River from DOE-EM -- ANS / Nuclear Newswire
5Savannah River facility prepped for NNSA project -- ANS / Nuclear Newswire
6srs-overview-fact-sheet (energy.gov)
7Leadership Team - Battelle Savannah River Alliance (battellesra.org)
9Entity Profile - Business Entities Online - S.C. Secretary of State (sc.gov)
12ARTICLE VI. - FINANCE | Code of Ordinances | Aiken, SC | Municode Library