State cuing up downtown Raleigh properties for sale, lease

In a news release Tuesday, McCrory said North Carolina would offer a "long-term ground lease" for the Personnel Training Center at 101 W. Peace St. The training center is part of a larger property, but only the training building and an adjacent parking lot that sits on 1.77 acres will be leased.

The same release says that the state will sell the now-vacant Charlotte Correctional facility on Oak Drive.

"Selling these properties is part of our strategy to reform how state government occupies space for greater efficiency, productivity and cost control," McCrory said in the release.

McCrory has made a point over his tenure of saying that the state should either sell or rehabilitate aging buildings in downtown Raleigh and across the state. Lawmakers have also urged the administration to unload older buildings that are expensive to maintain.

Last week, the state announced it would sell the Heck-Andrews House, which sits across Blount Street from the Executive Mansion, and the Bailey-Tucker House on Lane Street, which is also downtown.

Administration officials had hoped to rehab the houses and use them for official functions. That option proved too costly, McCrory said.

"We all agree these magnificent houses need to be restored, but these projects are better suited for the private sector," he said.