ODESSA — State Representative Brooks Landgraf (R-Odessa) sent a letter to the executive director of the Teacher Retirement System of Texas (TRS) on Tuesday asking the agency to reconsider its decision to sign on to a decade-long lease for office space in downtown Austin that will cost TRS $326,000 per month in rent payments.

"For the better part of the last decade, teachers and legislators have been told that the Teacher Retirement System of Texas was on the brink of financial insolvency," Landgraf writes in the letter. "The 10-year lease agreement for the office space in downtown Austin for TRS' Investment Management Division staff does not support such a claim."

TRS agreed to terms to lease three floors of Indeed Tower, which is still under construction on 6th Street in the heart of downtown Austin. The 100,000 square foot space would serve as the new location for its 180-person investment management division.

"I am confident TRS can find suitable office space that does not call into question the agency's commitment to being an effective steward of state resources," Landgraf's letter continued. "If alternative space cannot be found in the Austin area, I would be happy to help the agency find extremely affordable office space out here in the Permian Basin."