The City of Fort Lauderdale commission on Tuesday night chose to delay a preliminary agreement for the design and construction of a new city hall building.
Instead, the commission put a 60-day pause on the design of the city hall, and tasked the city’s negotiators to come back with a clearer picture of the financial aspects of the deal between the city and FTL City Hall Partners, the development group selected in January to design and build a new city hall.
The city also agreed to investigate refurbishing existing buildings as a potential cost-saving measure.
Scores of residents, including the heads of a number of civic associations, spoke in opposition to the preliminary agreement, requesting the city to delay or deny the agreement. Most were concerned about the deal's financial aspects and the aesthetics of the proposed design.
A new city hall building could cost the city $724 million over the next 30 years. The plan that came before the commission included a guaranteed 11% post-tax return on investment for the developer.
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“ There is no product in the world, in finance, that I am aware of where there is an 11% guaranteed rate of return, especially from a governmental entity,” said District 1 commissioner John Herbst.
“ What's been told to me tonight, this developer equity and developable fees? I am not comfortable with it,“ said District 3 Commissioner Pamela Beasley-Pittman.
Vice Mayor Ben Sorensen led community meetings in the weeks leading up to the vote. He cited two commercial properties in downtown, 101 Tower and 1 East Broward, as potential landing spots for the new city hall. The buildings were offered to the city to purchase for $86 million and $122.5 million respectively.
Now the city will task its retained engineering firm Jacobs with an assessment of both buildings. That includes making sure each building can fit each amenity the city needs.
“ Keep in mind that we need to have commission chambers. We need to have commission offices, and we need to have a lot of the things that don't exist in those buildings right now,” said Mayor Dean Trantalis.
Trantalis also told the cautionary tale of Miami-Dade County’s West Dade government Center. The 52-year old existing building was purchased in 2024 by the county and has seen its renovation costs triple.
Herbst responded with an anecdote of his own about Jacksonville's city hall, the refurbished St. Johns Building, built in 1912, that Herbst called "the Taj Mahal of city halls."
" It's a magnificent structure. Guess what?... Came in under budget and under time," Herbst said. "So it's not always the case that renovating an old building doesn't work — if you do it right."
Another potential option is the old federal courthouse downtown. A new federal courthouse is slated to be completed later this year, and the city will reach out to the Government Services Administration to see if the old building will be available to purchase.
The commission will be updated on the alternatives at the June 2 meeting.
