Urban planner: Not considering solid city hall deal a setback for Lexington

The failure of the Urban County Council to move forward on the proposed city hall in the current Herald-Leader building represents a tremendous setback for Lexington.

Why?

This failure will expose the city to tremendous financial risk in the future; its aging buildings will increasingly require costly repairs. The failure ends an opportunity to re-imagine city hall as a true civic center for the community. The failure “kicks the can down the road,” which means that the costs of future development will inflate and cost taxpayers more money.

As the council weighed the proposal by CRM Companies to relocate city hall to Midland and Main, members identified viable risks: a lengthy repayment schedule, greater annual costs, and a new area of downtown.

However, these risks not only fall well within an acceptable limit, they are highly favorable terms for the city.

Having worked on billions of dollars in complex capital projects around the country, I can’t imagine a more favorable scenario than the one council decided to halt.

CRM’s proposal eliminated many of substantial risks associated with complex development projects. The proposal created a fair and affordable lease arrangement, substantially lower than if the city developed its own building. It identified an asset that met, and exceeded, the space needs of the government. And most importantly perhaps, it created an exciting new anchor for east downtown, one that could spur growth and investment.

New city halls often face public scrutiny for being self-serving. Why should a city invest in a new building that serves city employees when there are unmet needs in public safety or water infrastructure?

I believe that much of the council’s anxiety stemmed from this tension. Not only will this be a hard process, it will be hard to persuade the electorate that it’s merit-worthy.

But Lexington, it is worth it.

The project will eliminate risks in future budgets, stabilizing the city’s financial future. It will open downtown properties for redevelopment. It will create a city hall that acts as a true civic asset for the people of Lexington. It will advance downtown’s growth. It will reflect a truth about the city, that it is a dynamic, enterprising community.

Other cities have pushed through these challenges to realize their own visions and have been the better for it.

In 2010, Chandler, Ariz., completed a 187,000 square-foot city hall. Like Lexington, its municipal offices were scattered across the city. Smartly, they began to redirect development fees into a fund during times of economic prosperity. They used this to finance the building’s construction during the recession, when construction costs were lower, saving them $4 million.

Even more importantly, they saw the project as an opportunity to improve the city. They incorporated an art gallery and a gathering space into the building. They located it on a site that was not contributing to its environment (much like the Herald-Leader building), bringing new energy to that part of town. The project has won multiple awards for being sustainable and beautiful.

Long Beach in California is currently constructing a new city hall, within a larger civic center. Similar to CRM’s proposal, a private developer is constructing the project and will receive annual payments from the city for a certain term.

Given the complexity of the city’s needs, this arrangement eliminates the risk associated with financing, designing, and constructing the new building. As the project emerges from the ground, it has already spurred additional investment and excitement.

Redmond, another California city, negotiated a public-private partnership with a non-profit development organization. They took the risk out of the development process. As the 300 city employees work together in the open new spaces, government is working with more efficiency and creativity.

Lexington deserves a city hall that reflects the optimism of the community. The examples above are beautiful, successful and inspiring. But behind that goodwill, they also share the presence of courage — the courage of city leaders willing to take important risks.

Lexingtonians should support our leaders with that same courage. 　

This story was originally published September 18, 2018 at 3:15 PM.