Fort Lauderdale City Hall Construction Item Back For a Vote

After an uproar over the price tag and deal terms of a new Fort Lauderdale city hall, a renegotiated agreement with the developer that reduces the cost by over $50 million is coming back for a commission vote.

The city has been working on developing a new city hall for about a year, selecting FTL City Hall Partners LLC’s proposal for a 14-story, oval-shaped building with a sci-fi-reminiscent design in downtown Fort Lauderdale. A record-breaking flood in 2023 damaged the former city hall, and Fort Lauderdale has leased space across several buildings since then.

FTL City Hall’s development team includes family-run firm Stiles and Core Construction, according to the proposed interlocal agreement.

Their proposal in April was a no-go. Electeds and residents balked at the price tag and the deal terms, which included a $24 million loan from the developer to the city at 11 percent interest post-tax. The developer’s proposal would have cost $268 million to design and build, though it would have tallied up to $725 million over 30 years, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel reported. The higher amount was due to an estimated annual payment of $24.2 million, including for debt service, availability payment and operations and maintenance, a city memo showed.

Commissioners on Thursday will consider a renegotiated interlocal agreement with the developer that drops the price tag to $217.1 million, eliminating the previous plans for 10 percent developer equity and $12 million developer fee, according to a city staff memo and presentation included in the agenda.

Under the new proposal, the city’s annual debt service, operations and maintenance payment will be $15.8 million, or a total of $474 million over 30 years. The developer would be paid at key project milestones instead of at financial closing.

The revised proposal also could mean a different building design, and city records show two alternative options. The project is designed by Palma and PGAL architecture firms.

A vote in favor of the interlocal agreement would be preliminary and won’t commit the city to the project or to a comprehensive agreement, allowing Fort Lauderdale officials to keep looking into purchasing existing buildings as an alternative.

Also on Thursday, commissioners will evaluate staff’s assessments of three buildings for a possible new city hall: Ivy Tower 101 at 101 Northeast Third Avenue, One East Broward Boulevard and the federal courthouse at 299 East Broward Boulevard.

A city-hired consultant determined the 18-story, 350,000-square-foot One East Broward is the most fitting option for a city hall. It would cost the city $289 million to purchase and renovate the building, according to the city presentation, which based the acquisition cost on the average of two appraisals. The city’s annual payments would be $17.9 million, excluding operations and maintenance.

The Ivy Tower would cost the city $227.4 million to buy and renovate, with $14.1 million annual payments. The federal courthouse, which the city consultant found least suitable due to the likely presence of asbestos and lead-based paint, would cost nearly $228 million to purchase and renovate, with $14.1 million in annual payments, city records show.

City findings also show that the Ivy Tower and One East Broward’s appraisals set their current values at less than their landlords’ asking sale prices of $86 million and $122.4 million, respectively.

The previously proposed deal with FTL City Hall was especially unsettling for opponents due to queasiness over the city’s future financial strength amid an impending Florida referendum to cut property taxes for homesteads. The revenue is a critical source of funding for counties and municipalities’ infrastructure and services.

The new city hall proposal also comes as costs for labor and some materials remain elevated, while expectations for interest rate cuts this year haven’t panned out. Another increase of the benchmark rate may be in the works.

City staff will present commissioners with their options at a 1 p.m. conference meeting prior to the 6 p.m. commission meeting on Thursday.