Council and the Administration Discuss Next Steps on a New City Hall

Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government Center. Source: City of Lexington.

Last Thursday, Councilmembers met with the Mayor’s Administration to discuss another proposal for a new City Hall. A few weeks ago, Council voted to close an RFP for a new building after determining the two proposals they received were unfeasible.

Brandi Peacher, Director of Project Management for the Mayor’s Administration, presented a three-phased proposal for renovating the current Government Center building. The proposal would include:

• Making a wide range of repairs to the Government Center building that are currently needed;

• Bringing all public-facing Divisions and Department to the bottom few floors of the Government Center and the Phoenix Building for accessibility;

• And demolishing the parking garage behind the Government Center and building in its place a new physical addition to the building which could house Council Chambers, Council offices, and other Administrative offices.

Altogether, the Administration estimates this project would cost $115 million. LFUCG could leverage historic tax credits from the State Government to help finance much of the work, although specific financing details for those tax credits would still need to be sorted out. The $36 million in the Capital Reserve Fund could be used, as well as $6 million in leftover money the Administration has in relation to last year’s Government Center Space Study.

The Administration requested that Council approve hiring a consulting team to work on the project from beginning to end, starting with a feasibility study, moving on to design and concepts, and moving through the completion of the renovations and building additions.

Council was hesitant to fully approve this proposal, largely citing a lack of details over what exactly a new addition and renovations to the Government Center would look like. Council asked the Administration to find out how much it would cost to hire a consultant to solely do a feasibility study to include firm cost estimates, financing details, and potential design ideas.

Depending on how much a feasibility study would cost, Council may approve using a portion of the $6 million in leftover Space Study funds to go toward a feasibility study for the Administration’s proposal. Council would review the results of the study before progressing any further.