The city council was not asked to take action on the proposal — which would see the city partner with Lexington Opportunity Fund to take over existing buildings or renovate properties at 200 West Vine Street — but council members sounded more upbeat about this latest plan than anything on offer in recent years.
"I think that the plan we have is a really, really good one," Councilwoman Whitney Baxter said.
Vice Mayor Dan Wu also had positive words for the possible project, adding that "having a new building and building it from the ground up is a great opportunity to show the rest of the community what is possible and what can be done."
Commissioner of General Services Chris Ford told the council Tuesday that deferred maintenance in the current city hall — the former Lafayette Hotel — stands at $55 million. And the aging building is only presenting more and more limitations and accessibility problems as time goes on.
The new proposal including the site of the former BB&T building would allow, Ford said, for a modern and welcoming hub for government operations. Goals include containing costs, retaining the Phoenix Building, and reducing environmental impact.
"It is nearly an entire city block," he noted. "The existing building is eight stories and has over 90,000 square feet. There's a newly-reconstructed parking garage on site that has almost 290 parking spaces on three levels."
If the plan comes to fruition, the city could sell its current main building and put $40 million in earmarked funds toward the deal.
The government center has been housed in the former hotel for more than 40 years and periodic initiatives aimed at finding a new home have spanned multiple administrations but never cleared a final council vote.
"This seems to be the closest to pulling the trigger, at least since I've been around," said CivicLex's Adrian Bryant, who has covered city government since 2022.
Planners are expected to deliver a concrete proposal to council this fall, with the goal of gaining approval and potentially beginning construction in 2026.