New Alpharetta City Hall could open in 2011

A new city hall with parking garage and town green may be built and open in Alpharetta by 2011 in a project expected to cost $21 million.

City Council on Monday night approved another $30,000 for Pieper O'Brien Herr, architects for the project, as it moves the project forward slowly in small phases.

Richard Kramer of Pieper O'Brien Herr submitted a letter outlining what his company would do. First, they will meet with Solomon Holdings, the commercial developers for the mixed-use center. Three-dimensional models of the conceptual plan will be presented, along with a cost estimate.

Christopher Jones, economic development director for the city, said the City Center has been evolving since June 2004.

Originally, City Council and staff planned for a mixed-use retail/office/residential phase to be built as phase one, with a new city hall as part of a second phase. But problems delayed any work beyond designs being completed.

A successful lawsuit challenging the use of property tax funds designated for schools eliminated at least half of the potential money for the project.

Additional delays came as the first project developer, Barry Real Estate, failed to acquire control of several properties included in its design. A second round of design bids brought The Solomon Group to the table, which also failed to reach terms with those property owners on the south side of city property.

"By utilizing property that is already owned by the city, or under contract by the city, we are able to move forward with a realistic and achievable time frame for completion," said Jones.

The city will save around $150,000 per year on leases for departments that can't fit in City Hall. The Finance department is in the Met Life Building near Haynes Bridge Road and Westside Parkway. Community Development employees are in offices leased from a South Main Street shopping center.

"We've already spent over a million dollars in these leases," Jones said.

He said the City Hall project will serve as a catalyst for new investment in the city.

But the question must be posed: In tough economic times, why build a new City Hall?

Jones said in addition to the lease savings, the current building has been outdated and inefficient for the day-to-day operations for many years. It is more cost effective and efficient for residents of Alpharetta to utilize the services at one location.

Alpharetta could fund the approximately $21 million project with a bond referendum that might be presented in 2009 or with a Certificate of Participation with the Georgia Municipal Association.

Much more than just City Hall is planned for this project, phase one of the overall City Center project. A parking deck with 750 spaces, plus another 100 parking spaces, will be part of this first phase. The top of the parking deck will be green space designed to be like a park.

"Because of the topography sloping so much, that park will feel like a natural component of the land, just natural green space when you walk out of City Hall," Jones said.

Road work and property acquisition also will be completed, which is necessary for the second phase expected to include retail, office and residential property. The parking will support City Hall plus downtown business.
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