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Call center is first tenant in Acquest building

FRANKLIN, September 2, 2010 — An Internal Revenue Service call center will be the first tenant of a planned $13 million, five-story office building slated to open in Cool Springs next year.

Buffalo, N.Y.-based Acquest Development LLC plans to break ground this winter on the 140,000-square-foot building on 8 acres on Market Exchange Court, said Michael Huntress, Acquest vice president.

Between 600 and 700 workers will be employed in the IRS call center.

Start of the new office construction could signal a revival of sorts for new office construction in Cool Springs, which had slowed in recent years because of the economy's collapse.
"It's a great setting for an office building of this nature," Huntress said.

All told, the government will pay $63 million for the project, which includes a 20-year sublease with the IRS, for the office space. Acquest will own the building then lease 125,000 square feet to U.S. General Services Administration, which will lease the space to the IRS, Huntress said. The land costs about $4 million.

When complete, the new call center would replace the current IRS call center location being used on Nolensville Pike, said Gregory Andrews, GSA spokesman.

The remaining vacant space in the Acquest building will be marketed as either retail or office space. Market Exchange Court is off Bakers Bridge Avenue, east of I-65 and the CoolSprings Galleria mall. It now is home to several auto dealerships and restaurants.

IRS spokesman Dan Boone referred all questions about the facility to the GSA.
Tom Frye, managing director of the CB Richard Ellis office in Nashville, points out that Cool Springs still has numerous undeveloped sites that would make prime office locations, including sites owned by Duke Realty, Southern Land and Crescent Resources totaling hundreds of acres.

"There's a bunch of land that's in play," Frye said. "This is not like this finishes anything out."

Posted by Veronica Silva Cusi, news correspondent
Source: http://www.tennessean.com

About Internal Revenue Service:
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is the United States federal government agency that collects taxes and enforces the internal revenue laws. It is an agency within the U.S. Department of the Treasury and is responsible for interpretation and application of Federal tax law.