Fort Lauderdale OKs $217 Million City Hall Development

After briefly considering buying and retrofitting an existing building into a city hall, Fort Lauderdale reverted to its original plan to develop from the ground up.

Commissioners voted 3-2 on Thursday in favor of having a developer build a $217.1 million city hall, which would cost Fort Lauderdale $15.8 million annually for 30 years, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel reported. FTL City Hall Partners LLC, an entity with a development team that includes Core Construction and the Stiles family’s eponymously named firm based in Fort Lauderdale, will be the developer.

The vote came after commissioners delayed proceeding earlier this year due to concerns of the project cost and considering purchasing an existing building. The latest proposal marks a roughly $50 million drop in the design-build cost, from the originally proposed $268 million. It also marks a drop in the annual debt service, maintenance and operations cost to $15.8 million, or $474 million over 30 years, from the original plan for $24.1 million, or $723 million over 30 years.

The lower price tag was achieved with several tweaks, including scrapping the developer’s previously planned $12 million developer fee and 10 percent equity in the building.

The commissioners’ approval was preliminary and doesn’t bind them to the project or a comprehensive agreement with the developer, allowing the city to keep exploring purchasing an existing building.

“If the city of Oakland Park, if the city of Sunrise, if the city of Pompano Beach, if the city of Miami can all figure out a way to afford a brand-new civil structure that is something the city can take pride in, that the city can say, ‘Yes, that is our City Hall.’ Great cities have City Halls,” Commissioner Steve Glassman said during the meeting, the publication reported.

“I always am hesitant to buy something used” due to unexpected expenses, Mayor Dean Trantalis said, the publication reported. “You get what you pay for.”

The reworked financials for the new city hall likely also mean a different design than the originally considered 14-story, oval-shaped building with a sci-fi-reminiscent design. Renderings show two other design options with rectangular-shaped buildings on the same site as the former city hall at 100 North Andrews Avenue. The project is designed by Palma and PGAL architecture firms.

Commissioners are expected to pick the design in the future.

The former city hall was demolished after damage during a record flood in 2023.

Commissioner Pamela Beasley-Pittman joined Glassman and Trantalis in voting yes. Vice Mayor Ben Sorensen and Commissioner John Herbst voted no, again raising concerns with the cost to build anew instead of buying an existing building.

The concern over costs is heightened now due to the November statewide referendum to increase the homestead exemption, potentially lowering property tax collections and hitting municipal budgets across Florida.

Fort Lauderdale staff and a consultant analysed three existing buildings as potential new city halls: Ivy Tower 101 at 101 Northeast Third Avenue, which would cost $227.4 million to buy and renovate, with $14.1 million annual payments; One East Broward Boulevard, which would cost $289 million to purchase and renovate, with annual payments of $17.9 million, excluding operations and maintenance; and the federal courthouse at 299 East Broward Boulevard, which would cost nearly $228 million to purchase and renovate, with $14.1 million in annual payments, according to city records.

The analysis showed Ivy Tower and One East Broward’s appraisals set their values at less than their landlords’ asking sale prices of $86 million and $122.4 million, respectively.

Herbst, one of the commissioners who voted “no” on Thursday, questioned some of the estimates to renovate and retrofit existing buildings, including the need to replace windows. The city-hired consultant responded that the decades-old buildings have to be brought up to code.

— Lidia Dinkova