Norfolk Daily News

Wednesday – January 23, 2008

11 potential sites submitted to council for new city hall

Eleven potential locations for city government office space were unveiled Tuesday night at the Norfolk City Council meeting.

City Administrator Mike Nolan presented information on the sites as the council continued to weigh what to do about finding new space for city offices, including the possibility of a new building for several government agencies to share.

Mayor Gordon Adams has asked agencies interested in sharing office space to indicate by next Tuesday how much space they need, the amount of money they could contribute to a joint project and the maximum square footage cost for a lease-purchase agreement they’d be willing to consider.

Here’s a rundown of the sites and the advantages and disadvantages as described by Nolan:

• City auditorium: The city owns the property and there is good access downtown. But drawbacks are its age, only 8,500 square feet of office space, cramped records storage space, energy inefficiency, inadequate parking and costly renovations that would be needed to upgrade the current space.

• Former First Christian Church, North 13th Street: The city has an option to buy the building for $650,000. It’s on 3.5 acres, has the lowest total cost of $2 million, is nearly 19,000 square feet, has ample paved parking and neighbors who support the city’s purchase. Drawbacks are citizens who would like to see city hall remain downtown, as well as the age of the church building.

• City council chambers downtown on Madison Avenue: The city owns it and parking is available. But there’s not much space without acquiring added property. The downtown parking district would have to be reimbursed $365,000 if its space is used across the alley, the existing building would have to be demolished and a new one built for about $3 million.

• Salvation Army property downtown: Acquiring the out-lot immediately west of the Salvation Army headquarters could accommodate a city hall at a reasonable cost, and there would adequate parking. New construction of 20,000 square feet, at $150 per square foot, would cost about $3 million. City offices there would be in close proximity to the city’s police and fire headquarters.

• Third Street south of closed rail crossing downtown: About 3.5 acres is for sale for $250,000. Drawbacks are having to raze existing buildings, adjacent property creates an aesthetic conflict, parking must be constructed and there is no solution yet to finding replacement space for Firestone, which stores tires in a building there.

• Kensington downtown: Nolan said he doesn’t believe the site is feasible because the city doesn’t own it and using it would displace low-income and disabled residents who live there.

• Former Villa Inn at 13th and Omaha Avenue: Cost would be $1.4 million to buy and there would be significant demolition costs, asbestos issues and the loss of prime commercial property for development at the busiest traffic intersection in Norfolk.

• Former Fullerton Lumber downtown: About 56,000 square feet is available for sale for $299,000. But an adjacent business is considering buying it. There would be demolition costs and construction of parking needed on the irregular-shaped lot.

• Former Rod Kush building on Riverside Boulevard: 2.36 acres and the 30,000 square-foot building are for sale for $650,000 and there is a paved parking area. But it’s away from downtown, there would be a remodeling cost to create offices, it’s not aesthetically pleasing and there is a potential for flooding of the property.

• Stuart Hansen property northwest of Faith Regional Health Services: The owner has offered it for sale, but it’s not centrally located and there would be substantial building and parking construction costs on the undeveloped land.

• Alco parking lot: The owner is interested in having the parking lot considered and has indicated a two-story building would be preferred to avoid disrupting remaining retail parking space.

Nolan said another property downtown, which he wasn’t at liberty to identify yet, was recommended earlier this week. It would be a turnkey facility, he said, that also has possibilities as a campus setting for several agencies.