AFTER REPORTING to the same headquarters for the past six years, officers patrolling North Jackson will soon have a new place to lay out battle plans for fighting crime.

Precinct Four is planning to move to the second story of the old Primos building, now known as Fondren Plaza at 4436 North State St., in the next few months. Work on the facility has already begun, but officials with the Jackson Police Department (JPD) say they’ll likely move in before work is completed.

“We’ll have to install new walls and drop electrical and phone lines. This facility was a completely open space,” said Precinct Four Cmdr. Kenneth Goodrum, referring to the 7,000-square-foot second floor. “This will be a complete build-out.”

Although JPD officials said the move was designed to be a cost-saving measure, rent on the new facility will be hundreds of dollars more expensive than the amount it pays for the precinct to remain in its current location at 2819 North State St.

Its current facility is owned by the Fondren Renaissance Foundation (FRF). The Primos building is owned by Ali Jamilia, department officials say.

Jackson Director of Communications Christopher Mims said the new location will cost $3,000 a month through the end of the 2008-09 fiscal year, the same as the rent at its current location, but will go up to $3,800 a month beginning October 1.



THE DECISION to move was announced in February, two months after Fondren’s board of directors voted to increase rent on its facility at 2819 North State St. to $3,000 a month. Before that, the department had been paying $1,200 per month to stay in the building.

After JPD’s lease was up in December, the foundation’s board of directors voted for the increase to bring in additional funding to offset building maintenance, insurance and an increase in Hinds County property taxes. FRF Associate Director Mary Jo McAnally said insurance for the 8,000-square-foot building is $6,000 a year.

Despite the increase, the department is still getting a deal from the nonprofit organization. In a previous interview, FRF Board President Barry Plunkett said JPD is being charged less than $5 a square foot, much less than surrounding real estate. The new location will cost $6.51 starting in October.

The Sun previously reported that property in the Fondren Place development on Duling Avenue goes for $20 a square foot. Prime retail and professional space on Lakeland Drive can fetch as much as $17.50 per square foot.

Goodrum said the new building won’t have as many physical issues as its current headquarters. “The stairs on the back of the building are condemned. The air conditioning doesn’t work in some places and the building has foundation issues,” he said. In addition to that, he told the Sun that the basement leaks during inclement weather.

McAnally said she was unaware of the problems and wanted to know why the department hadn’t approached FRF to address them. “If you were a tenant, wouldn’t you notify your landlord if something was condemned?” she asked.

FRF BOARD member Buddy Graham said he knew that a step was missing on the back staircase, but agreed with McAnally that the department never commented to the Fondren office about other problems. “If you don’t tell us about the problems, we can’t get them fixed,” he said.

The department and the foundation also had an agreement to address maintenance issues. “We take care of the exterior and they take care of the interior,” he said.

Documents provided by Graham show that the city entered into negotiations years ago with Fondren to rent the facility for the department with the understanding that the move would be temporary and help stabilize the neighborhood.

So the precinct could move in quicker and so the city could avoid having to bid out the repairs that Fondren and Jackson agreed upon, FRF obtained a three-year note in the amount of $100,000 to make the repairs. The city signed a three-year contract and agreed to pay $3,500 a month in rent, according to the documents.

FRF entered into a second three-year contract with the city from 2006 to 2008 in which the rent was lowered to $1,200 a month. Parking for 65 cars was included with the property.