The Lawrence City Commission on Tuesday will hear about a $4.2 million agreement to purchase an office building near Sixth and Iowa streets to serve as the new city hall.
The building, at 2000 Bluffs Drive, would require an estimated $11.7 million in remodeling, according to the agenda for the commission’s Tuesday meeting.
The current City Hall, 6 E. Sixth St., was dedicated in 1980. It’s no longer big enough to hold the city workforce, according to the meeting agenda.
The city has contracted with Multistudio for $130,000 for preliminary work to evaluate sites and spaces and complete predesign work.
“The candidate sites were the Reuter’s Building (600 block of New Hampshire), Riverfront Mall Building (1 Riverfront Plaza), and the office building at 2000 Bluffs Drive. Of these sites, Multistudio recommends 2000 Bluffs Drive as the ideal candidate site to meet current and future space and program needs at the lowest cost,” according to the agenda item.
“The Bluffs Drive site provides 50,000 square feet with an estimated renovation cost of $11.7 million. Property acquisition would be required, and the City has entered a purchase agreement for $4.2 million,” the agenda item continues. “The purchase agreement allows for a 120 day due diligence period to further study the site. Prior to the end of the due diligence period, the project team will present a final recommendation to the City Commission regarding the site.”
Renovating the current City Hall would cost an estimated $12 million “while not meeting our current or future space needs,” according to the agenda.
However, “The current City Hall property holds significant meaning in the community, especially as an anchor property in Downtown Lawrence. Should we move forward with an alternative location for City Hall, a public process to envision the future of the current City Hall property will be necessary,” according to the agenda item. “Additionally, should the current property be sold as a result of that visioning process, proceeds from the sale could substantially offset the cost of acquisition and renovation of the recommended site.”
If city hall remained at 6 E. Sixth St., the city would need to keep renting space for Municipal Court and Planning and Development Services. Those departments are currently in space leased at Riverfront Plaza for $300,000 annually, according to the agenda item.
The purchase agreement for 2000 Bluffs Drive requires City Commission approval and authorization, according to the agenda item.
Commissioners aren’t being asked to approve the sale on Tuesday, but they will hear a presentation about it.
The red pin on this map indicates the location of the building:
The commission will begin its regular meeting at 5:45 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 10 at City Hall, 6 E. Sixth St. See the complete meeting agenda at this link.
Meetings are open to the public, broadcast on Midco channel 25 and livestreamed on the city’s YouTube page, youtube.com/@lawrenceksvideo.
The commission accepts written public comment until noon the day of the meeting emailed to ccagendas@lawrenceks.org. The commission also hears public comment in person during meetings as well as via Zoom. Register for Tuesday’s Zoom meeting at this link.
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Mackenzie Clark (she/her), reporter/founder of The Lawrence Times, can be reached at mclark@lawrencekstimes.com. Read more of her work for the Times here. Check out her staff bio here.
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