Uncertainty over the timing of the project was evident from the slim vote count Tuesday night: 8-7.
Our government building is sucking us dry.Mayor Linda Gorton
Precarious Projections
Vice Mayor Dan Wu, a no vote, acknowledges the need for a new city hall is real, but he's not sure if undertaking such a hefty investment with a murky economic picture is a wise move. He worries potential curveballs coming out of Washington, D.C. could hurt the city's ability to continue services and meet the needs of struggling residents.
"I don't think we can take anything for granted from the federal level, all the things that we have come to expect over the last years and decades. Those are all up for grabs right now," he says. "For me, it's not even one specific issue or one specific source of funding that I'm worried about. It's kind of everything."
Council member Emma Curtis echoed those sentiments Tuesday, saying, "right now, we don't have the support that we need from the federal government and, more importantly, our residents don't have the support they need from the federal government."
Speakers at public comment opportunities had pointed to issues such as housing and inflation as reasons to put the brakes on the project.
"It's truly out of touch that while our city is hurting, increasing evictions and homelessness, rising housing costs not met with higher wages, growing food insecurity, increased costs of healthcare and more, our city government is now considering spending $30 million on a down payment for a new city hall," one speaker said.
Mounting Maintenance
But Mayor Linda Gorton, who had a new city hall at or near the top of her list of goals this term, counters that the city managed to weather the pandemic and other financial upheavals with cautious budgeting and can do so again.
The city may have to "do some things differently," she says, but it's worth considering the lengths the city has gone to in order to find a suitable home for government operations.
"I'm the fifth mayor to try to get a city hall because we know that our government building is sucking us dry with maintenance issues and millions of dollars," she says, adding that the new proposed facility is "not the Taj Mahal. It's not a magnificent building. It will be a solid place for employees to work and serve the public. It will have wonderful access for the public. Right now our access is not the best."
Regarding potential complications should budgeting surprises creep up, Gorton expressed confidence the city can juggle more than one priority at the same time.
"I am not concerned that we can't do other things," she says. "Since 2020, we have put $50 million into homeless services. So we will serve the homeless, we'll build affordable housing, and we'll continue to run the government in a fiscally smart way."
Deal Details
As part of the deal with the Lexington Opportunity Fund, the down payment is $30 million and the city will lease the new building on West Vine Street for $3.5 million annually for 35 years.
One frequently asked question deals with the total cost.
Two numbers are often batted around — $86.6 million and $152.5 million. CivicLex's Richard Young says one way of understanding the two amounts is to compare them to buying a home.
"If you're going to buy a house that's $200,000, your mortgage over 30 years is going to end up costing you more than double that likely at current interest rates, "Young says. So you don't say you're buying a $450,000 house. You say you're buying a $200,000, but you have to take out a mortgage to be able to afford it. And that's very similar to what's happening here."
Young says the project, which would include renovation of an existing structure and the construction of a new building, could remake parts of downtown in some respects.
"If it advances, it also has the potential to really reshape downtown," he said. "Assuming that the city would either sell or find another use for the current city hall once they moved in, that would open up a pretty significant property on the eastern side of downtown. It could both change Vine Street pretty significantly and Main Street significantly."
There is no working timeline yet for when the construction might begin or when the full project could see completion.