The vote comes after decades of searching for a permanent home for the city’s government, after moving into a converted Main Street hotel in the 1980s. The hall will relocate to a property on 200 W Vine St. after redevelopment, currently owned by Truist Bank.
Lexington is entering a public-partnership agreement with the Lexington Opportunity Fund, principally run by real estate agencies Webb and Greer Companies, as part of the deal. They’ll spend $30 million on a down payment from the city’s capital funds. The city would also pay $3.5 million each year for 35 years as part of its lease.
The council was mostly split during the final vote. Those in favor say a new building is needed to to better accommodate the public and city government, and to avoid maintenance costs at its current home.
“Just two years ago, we had to spend over $2 million to rebuild our obsolete elevators so we could stay open for business. In my opinion, that's not a good use of taxpayer dollars,” District 9 councilmember Whitney Elliott Baxter said.
Those opposed said the money going toward the project could have been better spent on public needs like sheltering the homeless or addressing the city’s housing gap.
“At the federal level, we are seeing financial uncertainty that is already beginning to trickle down and impact local governments in moments like these. Our responsibility is to protect people and make people the main priority,” District 1 councilmember Tyler Morton said.
The proposal also saw some pushback from residents who spoke at the meeting.
“I do believe that there are better things that they could be spending their money on that are going to impact people's current living conditions in the immediate,” resident Gray Broderson said. “This proposal is going to take years to come to fruition, potentially, but we need stuff that's going to help people now.”
The final reading narrowly passed council with an 8-7 vote. Councilmembers Hilary Boone, James Brown, Chuck Ellinger, Whitney Elliott Baxter, Joseph Hale, Lisa Higgins-Hord, Hannah LeGris and Jennifer Reynolds voted in favor of the project. Councilmembers Dave Sevigny, Liz Sheehan, Dan Wu, Amy Beasley, Emma Curtis, Shayla Lynch and Tyler Morton voted against othe project.
The new building could open as early as 2028.
