On the city council’s agenda for Tuesday’s was executive session item three, which called for discussion and action regarding City Hall real estate options. While in executive session, the council voted 6 – 0 to authorize City Manager Joyce Wilson to begin negations with parties interested in buying the land on which City Hall sits.
Late Tuesday afternoon, Wilson said it is a strong possibility that the current city hall building could become a full-service hotel with convention accommodations. She also said the city-owned land fronting Santa Fe Street, which is currently hosts a City Hall employee parking lot and Insights Science Museum, could be converted into commercial and retail space.
“There has been an expression of interest on the part of a development group that probably goes back six months, maybe even nine months. I think it was sort of on the heels of the Downtown Plan being approved, and a bunch of other things starting to happen. There was a lot of publicity,” Wilson said.
Wilson stated city staff had, internally, had previous conversations about the possibility of relocating City Hall, but that today’s executive session item was aimed at spurring the council to either commit to or abandon the notion of moving the municipal center.
“We’re at a crossroads where we need to either advance forward and expend some serious time and energy to develop the proposals and the terms of the transactions or we need to cease any further work,” she said.
Possible site for a new city location have been discussed, Wilson said, but at this point the city has no final location set. She noted that the city is committed to remaining in Downtown and is considering relocating near the county and federal courthouses, which is envisioned as a government center under the Downtown 2015 Plan. However, Wilson said it would be a minimum of 18 months, if the relocation were to begin immediately, to move city departments and staff from the current City Hall location to a new building.
Rep. Beto O’Rourke, whose district includes the downtown area, said he and the rest of council are interested in researching the possibilities of moving city hall and using the city land to its “highest value.” He said particular options were discussed in the council’s executive session but said he could not disclose specific information.
Rene Leon can be contacted at rene@newspapertree.com, or at 915.351.0605.
