news-record.com

GREENSBORO — Guilford County is eyeing a downtown building owned by BB&T for office space.

The building at Greene and Market streets sits next to Guilford's administrative offices.

The building is the only one in the block housing the downtown governmental complex not owned by a government, but that could change if the county buys it.

"We're looking at our options right now," said Paul Gibson, the commissioners chairman. "The building became available, and it's located in such a geographical proximity to ours that we cannot not consider looking at it."

The four-story building includes a BB&T branch and other offices, as well as an underground parking deck.

The asking price: $4.7 million.

"Our intent is to sell the property and lease back space," BB&T spokeswoman A.C. McGraw said.

Regardless of who the buyer is, she said, "we intend on keeping a branch presence at this location."

The county would be looking toward the future. It recently moved its tax and planning employees from the new courthouse on Eugene Street to the newly purchased Guilford County Independence Center to clear room for the courts.

The state recently approved 38 new positions for Guilford's court system, and the county is renovating space to accommodate them. Other noncourt departments in the courthouse include the Register of Deeds.

Gibson and other commissioners were briefed on the project in a private meeting last week.

"We've got it under consideration," he said.

Contact Nate DeGraff at 373-7024 or ndegraff@news-record.com