Countywide

San Diego County supervisors Tuesday approved a deal to lease and then to buy two buildings near downtown, where the Superior Court plans to move six of its courtrooms in an effort to ease overcrowding at the County Courthouse on Broadway.

The buildings, now owned by John Burnham and Co., are next to each other in the 1500 block of 6th Avenue.

The county agreed to pay an estimated $86,140 a month to lease the space for as long as 10 years. That figure includes utilities and the cost of remodeling the building.

Under the agreement, at any time during the life of the lease the county can buy the buildings for $4 million plus the cost of remodeling, expected to come to $2.6 million. The county intends to buy the buildings by the end of the year.

The buildings have 38,600 square feet of courtroom and office space, with 70 rooftop parking spaces. Superior Court officials plan to move the domestic and Probate Courts to the buildings early next year.

At Tuesday’s meeting, a representative of the owners of the International Convention Center on Beech Street asked the supervisors to delay approval of the agreement with Burnham. Attorney Timothy Treadwell said the convention center space should have been considered before supervisors on April 1 ordered negotiations with Burnham.

But board members decided it was not clear that any savings could be achieved by negotiating with the convention center owner, World Evangelism Inc. Supervisors agreed that the Beech Street building might not be appropriate for the courts and that any delays might cost the county money and cause further overcrowding at the courthouse.

The vote to lease the Burnham building was 4-0. Supervisor Leon Williams was absent.