Downtown Office Space Consolidation
formerly "New City Hall"
CIP 840-607-3009
Summary
This first phase of the New City Hall Project provided architectural and
planning programmatic information to establish facility size and budget.
Also included was project phasing and schedule, analysis of which
Departments will be housed within the building, environmental site
assessment and financial analysis. The downtown Business Group
(comprised of members of the Downtown Austin Alliance, Real Estate
Council of Austin, Austin Area Research Organization, and the Greater
Austin Chamber of Commerce) and the City staff studied four options:
lease space, purchase of a building, private build and City build. It
was determined that the option of City build will not be considered at
this time, due to high cost.
Status
On February 29, 1996, the City Council approved Amendment #2 to the
professional services agreement with Keyser Marston Associates, Inc.,
which will add a real estate consultant to their downtown redevelopment
team. Building on the
recommendations made by the Business Group, the real estate consultant
will investigate current and actual opportunities in the following
areas:
- long-term lease consolidation for 325,000 NUSF (net usable square
feet), including contract with the buildings currently occupied by the
City, and including an option to purchase
- purchase of an existing building or campus of buildings comprising
325,000 NUSF
- public/private partnership for constructin of an new City Hall with
325,000 NUSF
It is expected that the real estate consultant will make recommendations
to the City Council in July, 1996.
Issues
A Downtown Development report was given to a City Council Work Session
on January 5, 1994. The report gave an overview of the activity within
the City's downtown including proposals for a New City Hall, a Downtown Art Museum, and downtown malls. The
recommendation was made that the City should take pro-active role in the
development of downtown and that the City should maximize it's
investment potential. Toward this end, several analyses and studies
should be conducted which look at the impact of the separate issues on
the overall downtown development. One of the contributing elements to
this overview which should be investigated is the New City Hall Project.
Description
Of the 325,000 NUSF the City of Austin currently occupys in the Downtown
area the City currently leases over 225,000 NUSF, with an annual
expenditure in excess of $2,700,000. By the end of 1998, many of the
current leases will be re-negotiated. It is projected that the City will
spend approximately $3,400,000 for the same leased space.
Basic Data
Project Manager: Kalpana Sutaria, Department of Public Works and
Transportation, 499-7225
Amount Appropriated: $342,500
Completion Date (Phase I): February 1995
Revised May 1, 1996
|
