The long-delayed plan to develop a new state office building on Milwaukee's near west side could be proceeding under a revised plan.

State officials under both Gov. Tony Evers and his predecessor, Gov. Scott Walker, have called for the project to replace an outdated nine-story state office building, in downtown Milwaukee at 819 N. Sixth St. It was constructed in 1963.

The state's 2019-'21 construction budget included $4 million to buy and prepare the development site at the southwest corner of West Wisconsin Avenue and North 27th Street.

But the Legislature rejected Evers' proposal to spend $163.6 million to construct the 283,000-square-foot building, with a 1,000-stall parking structure, during the 2021-'23 budget period.

That came after the estimated construction cost increased from a 2019 proposal to spend $98.5 million on a 200,000-square-foot building.

The governor's new $3.8 billion 2023-'25 capital budget proposal doesn't include funding for the near west side building.

But, in a statement released Wednesday, Evers administration officials outlined plans to evaluate the state workforce and workplaces − including Milwaukee's state office building.

That includes reducing the amount of state office space in Madison by 27.8% within the next few years by consolidating state-owned facilities and creating more “one-stop shopping” options for government services.

In Madison, the plan calls for closing the State Education Building, more commonly known as GEF 3; the State Natural Resources Building, known as GEF 2; and an Art Deco-style building constructed in the 1930s that’s home to the Department of Health Services. The first would close within a year while the DHS building’s targeted closure is more than four years off.

In Milwaukee, the state Department of Administration still plans to sell the downtown state office building.

Its operations would relocate either to the new near west side building "or to locations more convenient to the people they serve," according to the DOA statement.

Also, instead of the state owning it, the new Milwaukee state office building "will be built through a public/private partnership with a request for proposals anticipated to be issued in late 2023/early 2024," it said.

That means the building would be owned by a private developer with the space leased to the state − similar to the nearby state office building at 635 N. 26th St.

That approach would not involve new state funding and wouldn't depend on a new budget approval, said Tatyana Warrick, DOA communications director.

DOA says relocating operations to the near west side and other sites would eliminate the need for $95.7 million in renovations at the downtown building.

In total, the agency says its overall proposal, named Vision 2030, would save taxpayers more than $541 million in deferred maintenance costs for aging and underused facilities in Madison and Milwaukee.

“Vision 2030 is a win-win for taxpayers and state workers,” said DOA Secretary Kathy Blumenfeld.

“It fosters a flexible, mobile work environment that will support our state workforce, optimizes our building and energy footprint, and improves access for the public while delivering taxpayer savings," she said, in a statement.

Meanwhile, developer Rick Wiegand has held off on his plans to convert a nearby historic former school, 2708 W. Wisconsin Ave., into a 23-room extended-stay hotel because of delays in replacing the blighted state-owned site with a new building.

The Evers administration's plans to proceed with the office building drew praise from Near West Side Partners, a neighborhood improvement group.

"This development will bring jobs, continued investment and further economic development to our community," said Interim Executive Director Lindsey St. Arnold Bell, in a statement.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Tom Daykin can be emailed at tdaykin@jrn.com and followed on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.

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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Delayed Milwaukee state office building could proceed as plans shift