By Pacific Island Times News Staff
Attorney General Douglas Moylan is asking the Guam legislature to grant him the authority to negotiate a lease-to-own agreement that would allow his office to acquire a permanent home.
He said the OAG currently pays approximately $1.48 million a year in rent at its current location in the International Trade Center building in Tamuning.
The OAG plans to relocate to the Bank of Hawaii building in Hagatna, where Moylan said his office is projected to spend $1.5 million in annual rent.
Citadel Pacific Ltd. owns both properties.
“We have been awaiting their occupancy permit in order for us to move from Tamuning back to Hagåtña, closer to our courts,” Moylan said in a letter to Speaker Therese Terlaje.
Attached to the letter is a draft bill authorizing the property purchase on behalf of the government.
“It proposes the application of our substantial monthly lease payments toward a permanent law office, owned by the government,” Moylan said, noting that the people have no equity interest in rent payments.
He said purchasing a property would build “a solid future” and save money by diverting rent payments “toward investing into a permanent location, that should invariably reduce the future monthly payments once the building and land are acquired.”
The OAG previously occupied office spaces at the Pedro Plaza in Hagatna before relocating to the ITC building in Tamuning in 2013.
Subscribe to
our digital
monthly edition