Thurston County to buy $1M property next to courthouse

The Thurston County Board of Commissioners approved the purchase of a $995,000-building from the Western Building Material Association at its meeting on Wednesday.

Assistant County Manager and head of county Central Services Robin Campbell said the site would be for the Office of Public Defense building as the current office does not have enough space.

"We will be able to solve a space concern by the purchase of this building," Campbell said. "It will become part of the upgrade of the buildings here on campus."

The property could also serve as office space for county departments with insufficient space.

Commissioner Tye Menser disapproved of the purchase agreement, saying that he sees the property as a "want than a need."

"I do think this new property has value to the county, but to me, it's more of a want than a need," Menser said. "I'm just not comfortable with this expenditure at this juncture."

Commissioner Carolina Mejia defended the purchase, saying it will address the county's short and long-term space concerns.

"The reason that I support this is because it's right in our area of growth," Mejia said. "I think it is a good purchase."

The subject property is located at the southwesterly corner of Lakeridge Drive Southwest and Lakeridge Way Southwest in Olympia, Washington.

The property contains a two-story office building with a total area of 4,616 square feet.

The county already owns all the buildings in the entire block except for the subject property.