Lexington government relaunches efforts to find new city hall | #citycouncil

A new study shows the Lexington government needs much less office space than it currently occupies over three different downtown buildings.

The study by Ernst & Young and Kersey and Kersey showed the city needs approximately 160,000 square feet of space. The city currently has 248,000 square feet over three buildings— the main government center at 200 E. Main St., the Switow building at 212 E. Main St. and the Phoenix building at 101 E. Vine St.

The main government building, the former Lafayette Hotel, was completed in 1920. The city has modified the building repeatedly to suit its needs. However, the space is not used efficiently and has too many constraints, consultants said.

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Most city employees have individual offices, which typically takes up a lot of space. Yet, there are many employees who rarely work in the office, said Catherine von Seggern, engagement executive with Ernest & Young.

That means the city needs roughly 40% less space than it currently occupies, she told the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Council at a special meeting Thursday.

The 160,000 square feet recommended by the space study was determined after surveying all city departments. After the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, many private companies moved to hybrid work set-ups where employees utilize more shared spaces, von Seggern said.

The group also looked at how the city should reconfigure its space so city government can be more efficient and user friendly for citizens. The city’s current space also has no real break rooms for employees and needs more, larger meeting rooms.

As part of the study, the consultants also looked at preliminary costs of what it would take to get the type of space the city needs.

Some of the options and initial cost estimates include:

• Demolish the parking garage on the back of the 200 E. Main St. building and renovate, gut and retrofit the main government building and Phoenix. The city could then leave the Switow building. $78 million to $107 million.
• Demolish parking garage and build an extension on the back of city hall and exit Phoenix and Switow. $94 million to $135 million.
• Purchase an existing office space and renovate. $69 million to $107 million.
• Build new. $89 million to $139 million.

The vast majority of the government center garage can no longer be used. It needs to be demolished, city officials have long said.

Marc Held, of Ernst & Young, said if the city built an extension on the back of where the garage is now located, it could move much of its public-facing business — including the council chambers— and much of its planning, building and financial services, to that area.

Multiple attempts to move city call, multiple failures

Mayor Linda Gorton, who spent 20 years on council prior to being elected mayor, said there have been five different proposals for a new city hall over 25 years. Including the $250,000 Ernst & Young study, the city has spent $474,500 since 2016 studying needs and locations for a city government center.

The city got close to buying the former Lexington Herald-Leader building on Midland Avenue in 2018 but that deal was ultimately scotched over a multitude of concerns. The Fayette County Public School system later purchased the former newspaper building.

Other options that were floated and eventually nixed included tearing down the nearby county clerk and police station and building a new building at that location, buying the Central Public Library, and building a new city government center on what is now City Center.

After the coronavirus pandemic, the city learned it could do more work remotely. More citizens also expect to be able to interact —pay bills, get permits, etc. — online.

That means the city needs less space, Gorton said.

Upkeep on the main former government building and other downtown city buildings is estimated to be north of $20 million. The city has had to make multiple and costly modifications to the former hotel to make it user friendly but it’s still tricky to navigate, particularly for people with mobility issues, city officials have long said.

In 2019, the city spent more than $5 million just fixing the exterior of the former Lafayette Hotel due to safety reasons.

Gorton said past proposals have largely failed because some prior mayors had approached the council with a final solution and did not have support of the 15-member council.

“This can be the council that finally brings this home,” Gorton said.

Determining if the city should stay and dramatically remodel its current location or move to a new building will be a deciding factor on how the city moves forward, she said.

Councilman Fred Brown, who has served on the council on-and-off for decades, has previously said the council has decided it wants to stay in the downtown core — roughly from Midland Avenue to Oliver Lewis Way.

“I remember in 1980 we came over here and it was supposed to be a temporary location,” Brown said.

Chief Administrative Officer Sally Hamilton suggested the city hire a commercial real estate broker to determine if there is suitable and large enough commercial buildings available downtown. If there isn’t, the city will then have to focus on remaining at its current address but modifying its space, she said.

“We need to see what our options are,” Hamilton said.

In Gorton’s proposed $505 million budget for the fiscal year that begins July 1 is $6 million to help the city get started on a new city government center. That money could be used for design services, Gorton said. The council will begin deliberations on Gorton’s budget proposal starting Tuesday.

Consultants told the council that it would likely take two to three years for design and construction.