City Hall Moving to One Technology Center?

[TulsaSooner]

There is an article in today's Tulsa World discussing the idea of consolodating City offices and relocating the whole thing to OTC.  There was a thread around here recently discussing City Hall and the Plaza area so this is a timely article.  (If this should be in the Devlopment forum, please move)

Discuss.  []

If consolidation is chosen, options include building a new facility or moving into existing downtown facilities.

The city is analyzing whether its employees should be consolidated into one location and moved out of City Hall into a new downtown site.

"Right now, we're in a study mode, and we're deep into it," said city Economic Development Director Don Himelfarb.

The city is not far enough along with its investigation into the economics of a consolidation and possible move to discuss potential alternative sites for City Hall, he said.

"But my gut tells me there will be a couple of places downtown we could potentially go that probably would be a preference, as opposed to constructing something new," Himelfarb said. "At this point, you don't rule anything in or anything out."

If the decision is made to relocate City Hall, one possible downtown site that some real estate brokers point to is the One Technology Center, the former WilTel building at Second Street and Cincinnati Avenue.

The four-year-old glass building is owned by Leucadia National Corp. of New York and is on the market for $75 million, or for lease at $17 a square foot, said broker Angela West, exclusive marketing advisor with B Richard Ellis.

Of the 15 floors, seven are fully furnished, high-tech-ready and available. The other floors are occupied by Level 3 Communications and Deloitte & Touche.

Although there have been rumors that the city is interested in the building, "you never know how serious that is," West said.

Issues that must be considered with any governmental building or offices are security and available public parking, officials say.

The city began its consolidation analysis to determine how efficient it is in administrative productivity, Himelfarb said.

Currently, those types of employees are housed in several locations with the bulk of the population, about 400, located in the 37-year-old City Hall at 200 Civic Center.

An additional more than 100 employees are at three different downtown sites within the Inner Dispersal Loop, while an estimated 200 to 300 employees that might be considered as having office or administrative duties are in buildings outside of downtown, said Human Resources Director Michael Bates. The city has about 3,900 employees.

Himelfarb said the city is trying to understand what the current costs are to maintain the different operations, some of which are located in aging buildings, compared to the cost of consolidating.

He said there also are "soft benefits" that are harder to quantify, such as the efficiency that occurs by bringing all the various city services under one roof.

The study may show that the city could house more of its existing workforce in a much smaller space if that space is laid out in a more efficient, "work-conducive manner," he said.

Himelfarb said that if the city decides to consolidate, then the discussion would focus on whether to build a new facility or look at available facilities.

"Then you make an economic case that it is either worthy of further considerations or not."

If those numbers are compelling or even close, then the city will "take a deep dive and look at how to actually fund, finance and accommodate the move."

Himelfarb said what the city is considering isn't new. Consolidating city offices has been very successful in Cleveland, and Boston recently announced a similar plan, he said.

"We're not necessarily reinventing the wheels, nor are we necessarily taking an absolute position that we've made a final conclusion that this must be done," he said.

Himelfarb said other factors also could tip the equation in favor of consolidation and moving City Hall.

There is the consideration of the economic benefit that a high concentration of city employees could ignite in a particular area.

Also, the city's real estate -- particularly City Hall -- is "obviously prime" but not on the tax rolls, he said.

Relocating to an existing facility could allow potential retail or commercial development to occur on the City Hall site and other city-owned sites downtown, he said.

A swath from the convention center northeast to the Brady District has redevelopment potential, Himelfarb said. The City Hall land could be a potential southern commercial anchor site, he said.

"If the city decided to put out some of its property, at least if done through the Tulsa Development Authority, we could have some say and control over what the development looks like," he said.

Moving into existing office space downtown also would strengthen the real estate market because taking several hundred thousand square feet off the market could increase rental rates and make further commercial development even more viable, he said.

Himelfarb said trying to pin down exactly how the city would finance a relocation is far too premature.

"Certainly my hope is that we could do this thing without a shock to the tax system," he said. "But you also wouldn't do this unless you felt that the longer-term economics made sense for the city." Himelfarb said many financing options could be considered.

He said if the economic benefits are overwhelming, a consolidation and move could pay for itself, or the city could take an approach like Cleveland to create a public-private partnership to lessen the cost.

Himelfarb said he hopes to have some idea by the end of the first quarter next year about whether the city should push ahead.

"On its face, it appears to make sense that if you consolidate three or five locations into one, it should be more cost effective and efficient. Now the question is: Does it? Does the simple math work? And the only way we're going to know that is by going through the study process."

http://www.tulsaworld.com/NewsStory.asp?ID=061217_To_A1_Conso1462

[TheArtist]

"Also, the city's real estate -- particularly City Hall -- is "obviously prime" but not on the tax rolls, he said"

If they moved to One Tech Center would that real estate then still be on the tax rolls? Or would it basically be a wash? I would think that the One Tech Center would pay more taxes than the City Hall and other sites would as private enterprises?

One thing that does come to mind as a plus though is the positive impression visitors, would have of our city by having them going to One Tech vrs the old City Hall and those other places. I have been to different meetings and such at city hall where there have been important business leaders, press, "dignitaries", developers,artists lol, etc. from out of town (like the one where they approved my mural for the city, and the Pelli Architect people were there about the artwork for the arena) First and good impressions do count and walking in that dank dark area into a less than appealing interior to boot, doesn't exactly cry out "We are a great, alive, growing, forward thinking, city. Come do business here."

[inteller]

quote:Originally posted by TheArtist

"Also, the city's real estate -- particularly City Hall -- is "obviously prime" but not on the tax rolls, he said"

If they moved to One Tech Center would that real estate then still be on the tax rolls? Or would it basically be a wash? I would think that the One Tech Center would pay more taxes than the City Hall and other sites would as private enterprises?

One thing that does come to mind as a plus though is the positive impression visitors, would have of our city by having them going to One Tech vrs the old City Hall and those other places. I have been to different meetings and such at city hall where there have been important business leaders, press, "dignitaries", developers,artists lol, etc. from out of town (like the one where they approved my mural for the city, and the Pelli Architect people were there about the artwork for the arena) First and good impressions do count and walking in that dank dark area into a less than appealing interior to boot, doesn't exactly cry out "We are a great, alive, growing, forward thinking, city. Come do business here."

important business leaders go to the chamber,, not city hall.  and the chamber is pretty swank in 2 w 2nd st.

[DM]

quote:Originally posted by TheArtist

One thing that does come to mind as a plus though is the positive impression visitors, would have of our city by having them going to One Tech vrs the old City Hall and those other places. I have been to different meetings and such at city hall where there have been important business leaders, press, "dignitaries", developers,artists lol, etc. from out of town (like the one where they approved my mural for the city, and the Pelli Architect people were there about the artwork for the arena) First and good impressions do count and walking in that dank dark area into a less than appealing interior to boot, doesn't exactly cry out "We are a great, alive, growing, forward thinking, city. Come do business here."

Exactly what I was thinking. Personally I think Tulsa should build a nice City Hall building. The building they are in now is not nice at all. Plus it looks like another office building. It should be different from all the other buildings. Take a look at Fresno City Hall.







Personally I like it. But a lot of people don't. But it is distinctive from all the other downtown buildings. Tulsa should have the same type distinctive building. Not necessarily the same building. But distinctive from all the rest.

One Tech Building is a lot better then the building they are in now.

[sgrizzle]

While I think the Aquarium looks better thant eh current facilities, I think the money would be better spent in remodeling/rebuilding in the current location.

If the library ever moves, that space, plus the almost-vacant post office building (since the sorting moved) would allow for a lot of shuffling during construction.

Level the post office, put a nice-looking city hall next to the arena.

[RecycleMichael]

I think the thing we are missing is easy public access to city hall. It is hard to figure out where to park or even where to drop-off visitors. Something as simple as meeting with your councilor or paying a speeding ticket can be very difficult.

The best city hall would have a grand entrance that funnels people in efficiently and sets a tone of a city that is well-run, state of the art and beautifully built. The current city hall ain't none of those things.

The easiest answer is to find a buyer for the current building.

I think it is the prime location for a luxury convention hotel. It is a much better site than the TDA one at 3rd and Cheyenne and wouldn't be affected by the Towerview or the bus station.

Some people have said that government and some politicians are always "for sale". Let's just sell the building this time.

[PonderInc]

The "Dirty Coke Bottle Building"/Technology Center has its own parking garage connected by air bridge.  Though it's about as attractive as the current city hall, I like the idea of freeing up all that unused/ugly space at the current site for re-development.  

Of course, the Heavenly Hospitality people would then want us to relocate the courthouse because...you know...THOSE PEOPLE...

The Technolgy Center has a Simm City quality that would give new meaning to the phrase: "transparancy in government."  On the other hand, another big storm could probably blow the glass walls off of city hall.

[TheArtist]

Its not "The Aquarium" or "Dirty Coke Bottle Building" its the Borge Cube which is perfect for a City Hall building.   Resistance is futile, you will be assimilated. []

[extulsan]

I just had to delurk to let you know that I nearly fell out of my chair laughing that you guys were looking at Fresno City Hall as some kind of example!  It's a symbol of everything bad about Fresno--the "tear down every old building" mentality that dominates this city.
The Fresno City Hall building is considered an eyesore by the few who care about such things, and sadly that number is much lower than it is in Tulsa.  We're a much more backward city than Tulsa, and we're not a good example of anything other than what NOT to do!  

We do have an okay state university though.  That's about the only thing we have over Tulsa.

[AMP]

I like the St Louis City Hall Building.  

[TulsaSooner]

Is that St Louis, France?  []

[YoungTulsan]

Moving to One Tech Center and redeveloping the current real estate would be a major improvement, regardless of "better" ideas you might find from another city.

[Double A]

The ant farm is a very poor choice as far as I'm concerned. It would be more of a liability than an asset for the city. Do I smell a bailout here? Is there even any interest by developers in the current city hall? Even if it did move what about the county courthouse? I think there are too many variables to make the property attractive to developers, outside of of inexperienced fly by night start ups that the TDA loves so much. Before the city even considers this move they owe it too the citizens to have reputable, experienced, buyers contracted in advance. A move based on pure speculation is completely irresponsible.

[carltonplace]

I thought the point was to see if there was a monetary benefit to housing all of the city offices in a single place, not because a developer was interested in the site.