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DMV moves to old theater photo by Drew Fleming The $2 million renovation of the old Medford 4 Cinemas building into commercial office space is the latest project by Biddle Road Leasing said Bill Leever, a partner in Pulver and Leever Real Estate Company. Offices at the Rogue Valley Mall, Medford Center will be closed by July By SHARI DOWNHILL The state�s Driver and Motor Vehicle Services division is consolidating two Medford mall offices and moving the agency�s operations into a portion of the former Medford 4 Cinemas. The property owner, Biddle Road Leasing, LLC, approved the lease last week with DMV. The agency will be combining offices currently in the Rogue Valley Mall and the Medford Center that serve about 675 customers each day. The agency will close the mall locations and open the new office off Biddle Road and Progress Drive in a 5,600-square-foot portion of the 15,000-square-foot building by July, said Kirk Brust, DMV�s south region manager. "The overall layout of the current facility is really inadequate," Burst said. "We have heard some concern about the closing of the express office at the Rogue Valley Mall. We�re not closing it. It will be opening at the new location." The move will cost the agency about $190,000, which will cover moving costs, phone system installation and counter design. The new location will provide improved motorcycle and commercial license testing areas, as well as concentrate services for better access. A receptionist will be available at the new site to "pre-screen" DMV customers, making sure they have required documents before they spend time waiting in line for service, Burst said. DMV will pay $10,000 a month rent for the new site � about the same as the combined rents of the present offices � which will cover occupancy and common area maintenance. The agency has been operating in the Medford Center for 12 years and the Rogue Valley Mall for 10. DMV closed eight offices in November, when it announced the Medford consolidation plan. The renovation of the old movie theater, operated by Cinemark, into commercial office space is the latest project by Biddle Road Leasing on the land tract situated along Biddle Road between McAndrews Road and Progress Drive, said firm partner Bill Leever, of Pulver and Leever Real Estate Company. The $2 million project was designed by Medford-based Batzer Construction Inc., which will oversee construction activity, Leever said. Part of the renovation includes large windows cut in the exterior cinderblock walls. The Medford engineering firm of Marquess & Associates Inc. designed the steel reinforcing beam system used to strengthen the window openings. "We debated whether to renovate or tear the whole building down," he said of the old Medford 4 Cinemas building. "It appeared to be more economical to save it. It�s been a focused journey. We�ve had offers to buy it, but we refused them." While DMV will be housed in about a third of the building, Leever said lease negotiations with a second tenant are under way for another 5,100 square-foot area, leaving about 4,300 square-feet of available office space. Cinemark closed and sold the theater to Biddle Road Leasing, LLC in 1998 after opening a 15-screen Tinseltown theater complex in November 1997. Reach reporter Shari Downhill at 776-4463, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.