City Hall purchase approved

It’s a done deal.

The former Columbian building will become Vancouver’s new City Hall.

After public comment overflowing with hyperbole that included phrases like “Once in a lifetime,” “Phenomenal opportunity” and “The smartest thing you can do,” the city council voted unanimously Monday to approve the $18.5 million purchase of the six-story LEED gold-certified building located at Sixth and Esther streets.

The sale brings to a close the city’s decade-long hunt to consolidate its services — currently spread out in five buildings up to 10 miles apart — and is expected to save about $1 million a year for the city’s struggling general fund. City Manger Pat McDonnell said that those savings will mean the city can keep 15 to 20 employees that it otherwise would have to cut.

Members of downtown associations and the Greater Vancouver Chamber of Commerce, real estate agents, a former city employee and others took to the microphone to urge the council to make a move on the bank-owned property.

“It would be a huge disservice to citizens to not move forward with this opportunity,” said Kim Capeloto, CEO of the chamber of commerce. “I would say the city can’t afford to not move forward with this opportunity.”

City officials plan to spend $23.5 million. The cost includes the purchase of the building and 5.14 acres from Bank of America, moving and renovation costs, and other associated expenses. The purchase price is 44 percent less than the building’s appraised value of $32.9 million.

The city will need to issue about $10.5 million in bonds to pay for the sale; the rest of the money it has on hand in its capital fund, said Lloyd Tyler, the city’s chief financial officer. The building is owned by Bank of America, which received title earlier this year from Downtown Vitality Partners, which is owned by the Campbell family, who publish The Columbian. The business forfeited the three-year-old building as part of a bankruptcy settlement; the newspaper has no stake in the sale.

The city spends $2.45 million in leasing and operating costs at its five locations, and employees will be moving next summer as modifications to the new City Hall are completed and leases expire, Assistant City Manager Eric Holmes said.

Mayor Tim Leavitt called the vote a “monumental decision.” He added that the move to a new location would “refresh and revitalize the image of the city of Vancouver.”

“Staying politically correct, this building is garbage,” he said, sitting in the council chambers of the current City Hall at 210 E. 13th St. “I have a feeling this is an evening many of us are going to remember for a long, long time.”

In opposition

A handful of speakers expressed their reservations about the city adding any debt as it tries to fill a projected $10 million shortfall in its general fund. Others were wary of the city locating its new nerve center downtown, arguing that the east side of town is where the population really is.

“I guess I’ll go counter to the tide, but I don’t think this is an appropriate purchase,” Vancouver resident James Newton said. “It’s a fabulous building, and beautiful to look at from the outside. But we need to have someone in that building who is generating wealth and tax revenue.”

City Councilor Larry Smith said he was moved between three different buildings when he worked for the city’s Parks and Recreation Department and could clearly see the advantages to having all of the city’s services in one spot. He said he disagreed with people who say that because the economy is bad the council shouldn’t go through with the deal.

“The good time is when the opportunity presents itself,” Smith said. “I don’t apologize for that.”

Retired city employee Gail Ratliff said she can remember being in the city’s current City Hall when she started in the early 1970s and saw a loss of efficiency as workers were spread out.

“I am in favor of it; I think it’s exciting,” she said. “When you can go to another floor and get your questions answered, you work much better as a family.”

40-year plan

The city expects to pay off the bonds on the 118,000 square foot building in 25 years, and believes it will accommodate growth for a minimum of 40 years, Holmes said. About one third of the building is leased by private companies. The city will continue those leases for the foreseeable future and plans to gain about $500,000 a year in rent, he said.

The purchase includes 266 parking spaces. Employees may also use the nearby parking garage at VancouverCenter, Holmes said.

Tyler said that the city will lose about $63,000 in property taxes, and that the county and other taxing entities will not be paid their share, but added that the millions of dollars in new construction that goes on every year, including $90 million in 2009, quickly compensates for that loss.

Councilor Jeanne Harris, along with several others, said she was sorry that the Campbell family’s fortunes did not allow them to keep the building.

“It’s a building that is timeless, environmentally responsible, efficient and practical,” Harris said. “Moving this downtown creates a legacy.”