This story has been updated to clarify the meaning of a quote by City Manager Katie Koester about concerns in the Marine View Building.
After Juneau voters twice rejected a new City Hall, local leaders are planning to — yet again — take a look at office space throughout the city to see what options might be available.
Plans to collect information about a trio of options were presented by City Manager Katie Koester to Juneau Assembly members during their Committee of the Whole meeting on Monday night. She noted about 40% of the city’s office staff currently works in the City Hall building, which officials estimate needs more than $14 million in repairs and maintenance.
The city is also spending more than $800,000 a year to rent office space in four other buildings: the Marine View Building, Sealaska Plaza, Municipal Way Building and Goldbelt Seadrome building. Of those, Koester said the Marine View Building, which the city has a lease for until June of 2024, is the biggest concern.
“We feel like Marine View is probably the most urgent because of the lease expiration date, and because of the OSHA violations there with safe drinking water and bathrooms” being unavailable when the plumbing is turned off for routine repairs, she told Assembly members.
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Koester outlined three options she plans to present to Assembly members for future consideration after research by city staff:
• Space for all 164 office employees and the Assembly chambers, which would require about 46,000 square feet.
• Space for the 99 office employees not currently at City Hall, which would require about 33,625 gross square feet.
• Space for employees in the Marine View Building, which would require about 17,000 square feet.
Voters rejected a $35 million bond to fund most of the cost of a new City Hall last year, then again rejected a $27 million bond during the municipal election in October. The designated site for the new building, expected to cost $43.3 million, was at 450 Whittier St., which was selected after an extensive review of possible sites and buildings throughout Juneau.
Koester noted about $16.3 million has already been allocated by the Assembly for new City Hall facilities, some of which should be invested in fixing the most immediate needs at the current City Hall.
“I think that really knowing what the universe is out there for lease property will dictate how we talk about investing in this building,” she said.
As for additional facilities, Koester said costs will be a significant factor in the evaluation of locations.
“I do want to make sure that our overall annual rental cost is pretty low for industry standards because we do expect to have to pay more with a different option,” she said. “But of course that helps to control that cost as much as possible.”
The length of any leases at new locations will also be taken into consideration, Koester said.
“It would be realistic to have an initial 10-year term to be able to recoup the cost of moving and some of the tenant improvements,” she said “We put a five-year term there just knowing that we live in a dynamic place and there’s lots of different opportunities that might come up, but also realizing that the intention isn’t to go back for any big capital purchases or new facilities in the near future.”
As for a new City Hall — or moving most or all employees into an existing building the city purchases — that is something now well into the future if it occurs, Koester said.
“I really think that even if, let’s say, in the next five years the Assembly wants to start talking about what a city-owned facility would look like — not necessarily a new City Hall, (but) a city-owned facility — it would still take multiple years to work that through the process,” she said.
• Contact Mark Sabbatini at mark.sabbatini@juneauempire.com or (907) 957-2306.
