VA seeks proposals for a 20-year lease to house its Kenai Vet Center outstation in Soldotna

The Department of Veterans Affairs opened a request for lease proposals Monday for 2,107 to 2,844 usable square feet of office space in Soldotna, and no more than 2,987 rentable, for its Kenai Vet Center outstation. The VA describes the outstation as a readjustment counseling office with three group rooms. Offers are due by 5 pm Pacific Nov. 25.

The lease would run 20 years. The first 10 are firm, and after that the government may end it on 120 days' notice. The VA wants 20 reserved, secured and lit surface parking spaces and offers a $436-per-usable-square-foot allowance for tenant improvements, the finishes and fixtures that turn bare space into finished, usable space.

Sites must fall within an area bounded by Spruce Avenue, Ridgeway Drive, Frontier Avenue Extended, the Kenai River, Silkok Creek, Kalifornsky Road, the Sterling Highway and Turnbuckle Terrace Road. Buildings must meet federal seismic and asbestos standards, and the VA generally will not lease property in a 1-percent-annual-chance floodplain.

Facility quality, site, past performance and experience together count for significantly more than price, so the lowest offer need not win. No small-business set-aside applies. The VA will not award the lease until a National Environmental Policy Act review is complete.