Merced supervisors to consider leasing AT&T building to Golden Valley Health Centers

A vacant building at Castle Commerce Center that once housed an AT&T call center may become home to another company.

The Board of Supervisors on Tuesday will consider approving an agreement with Golden Valley Health Centers to lease the building for five years. Golden Valley plans to relocate its call center, information technology, human resources, referral and management departments to the 52,482-square-foot building, according to county documents.

The building at the former Air Force Base has been empty since AT&T closed its Atwater call center in August. More than 400 people lost their jobs in one of the biggest private layoffs in Merced County history. The county lost an estimated $367,000 in annual revenue from AT&T’s lease.

The potential of having Golden Valley Health Centers reuse the site has excited county officials. They say the contract will restore half the revenue lost when AT&T left.

“These are all steps in the right direction,” said District 3 Supervisor Daron McDaniel. “Everybody would like to win the lottery and get it all at once, but that’s never going to happen. It’s one step at a time.”

Although the move won’t restore the jobs lost from AT&T, the county would receive $13,098.80 in lease payments from Golden Valley a month.

About 250 Golden Valley employees from Merced and Stanislaus counties will be transferred to Castle, health officials confirmed Monday. The move would create at least 25 new jobs, with another 25 expected by the end of the year, said Golden Valley’s Chief Operating Officer Mark Millan.

“Because of this move, we’re able to create new positions based out of Atwater,” Millan said Monday. “Currently, our call center only supports a portion of our health centers. Once we get stationed in Atwater, we will be able to support all our health centers, which will benefit our patients and staff.”

Millan said the call center will handle appointments, insurance verification and preregistration services for patients of all 26 health centers.

Chief Executive Officer Tony Weber said moving employees to Castle frees up three buildings at Golden Valley’s main campus on Childs Avenue in Merced. Officials plan to expand clinical services and hire more providers in the future, Weber told the Merced Sun-Star on Monday.

One of the benefits of moving to Castle, according to Golden Valley’s top officials, was that the former AT&T building is set up with phone lines and electrical connections. AT&T has continued its lease until this month to wind down operations, county officials said.

If the supervisors approve the contract Tuesday, county officials will give Golden Valley Health Centers a 45-day credit with no rent or maintenance fees. Golden Valley’s lease would begin March 1.

Mark Hendrickson, Merced County director of community and economic development, said the credit is to allow Golden Valley Health Centers time to make capital improvements.

“It’s going to allow them to do some work inside the building to get it to the way they want it furnished,” Hendrickson said. “This is a good step in the right direction for the county. We are excited to work with Golden Valley Health Centers as they look to expand and grow what they do.”

The Board of Supervisors will meet at 10 a.m. Tuesday in its chamber on the third floor of the Merced County Administration Building, 2222 M St.

This story was originally published February 2, 2015 at 5:24 PM with the headline "Merced supervisors to consider leasing AT&T building to Golden Valley Health Centers."