Pennsylvania Auditor General Jack Wagner is reviewing the Pennsylvania Department of General Service's agreement to sell the State Office Building in Pittsburgh for $4.6 million, claiming the purchase price amounts to a "fire sale."

The Department of General Services announced Tuesday it was selling the 16-story structure to River Vue Associates LP of Canonsburg.

"I continue to believe this is the worst possible deal for the taxpayers of Pennsylvania," Wagner said in a statement. "It makes no sense for the commonwealth to sell this prized asset -- the signature building of state government in Western Pennsylvania -- for the lowest possible price during the most depressed real-estate market in decades."

Department of General Services Secretary James P. Creedon countered that selling the Pittsburgh State Office Building is in the best interest of taxpayers.

Creedon said he welcomes the audit from Wagner's office.

"We have discussed this decision and engaged in the process to sell the Pittsburgh State Office Building publicly for more than two years," Creedon said in a statement. "While the auditor general seemed to only become interested in this topic during the last month, he is welcome to review any and all of our material and we will fully cooperate with him in that review."

Creedon says the decision to sell the 50-year-old building was based on many factors, including "significant annual operating costs and the substantial costs necessary to rehabilitate the structure."

Engineering estimates show that nearly $65 million in state funds would be needed to thoroughly rehabilitate the building, Creedon said.

The state will save $14 million by selling the building and moving state employees into leased space in downtown Pittsburgh, Creedon said.

Wagner isn't buying it.

"The land alone is worth more than the sale price," Wagner said in a press release, adding that the state has agreed to purchase the City of Pittsburgh's Municipal Courts Building, which is one-fifth the size of the State Office Building and is situated in a less desirable location, under the Liberty Bridge and next to the Allegheny County Jail, for $9 million.

The State Office Building sale is a bad deal, Wagner argues, because "there would not be enough profits from the sale to offset moving expenses and pay for the first year of leases at multiple locations in downtown Pittsburgh, saddling taxpayers with an additional spending burden."

Read Wagner's press release at the link below:

Auditor General Jack Wagner Will Review State's Agreement to Sell Pittsburgh State Office Building

Read Creedon's response at the link below:

DGS Secretary Says Sale of Pittsburgh State Office Building Is in Best Interest of Taxpayers