Lexington expects construction to begin on a new city hall in the winter of 2027.
Last December, the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Council narrowly voted to approve the lease and development of a new city hall located at 200 W. Vine St., despite some pushback from residents. The property is currently owned by Truist Bank.
The urban county government has been searching for a permanent government headquarters for decades after moving into a converted Main Street hotel in the 1980s.
Chris Ford, Lexington’s Commissioner of General Services, said its current building is “no longer fiscally sustainable.”
“Today's government center is a cost burden to taxpayers and has diminishing value for accessibility and functionality,” he told council members during a Tuesday work session.
The city estimates the project will cost $86.6 million.
As part of the deal to purchase the property, Lexington is entering a public-private partnership with the Lexington Opportunity Fund, principally run by real estate agencies Webb and Greer Companies. The city plans to purchase the site with a $30 million down payment. It would then pay $3.5 million annually through a 35-year lease.
The city estimates it would cost $54.6 million to redevelop the building, though Ford said the city is still negotiating with construction partner D.W. Wilburn on the final “guaranteed maximum price” of the project.
“From there we would need to judge and assess, one, whether it meets our number, whether it's affordable. In any event it does not, what adjustments and realignments can be made,” Ford said.
Once the project’s costs are agreed upon, the city plans to take community feedback on how to make the new space more accessible. There are currently no set dates for any public hearings.
“There's going to be a bank of community rooms, the council chambers, there's going to be a lot of finance functions that will be on the first and second floor, and so we want to get a sense of how the community feels about accessing the new space,” Ford said. “So community engagement will be important.”
From there, the city will need approval from the Kentucky Finance and Administration Cabinet and Kentucky Public Private Partnership Board. If approved, Ford said the city would be on track to close its purchase of the property in late fall.
