The most common question about Sandy Springs plans for a future City Hall – “How much taxpayer money will it cost?” – is one that’s most difficult to answer.
City Spokeswoman Sharon Kraun said the city does not have a definitive timeline or budget for the project and said that will become clear when Boston-based firm Goody Clancy finishes drawing the city’s downtown master plan.
In the absence of real numbers, guesstimates and estimates abound. But there are a few established costs.
In 2008, the city paid $8 million for the Target property at 235 Johnson Ferry Road. The city also has $9 million in its so-called “City Hall Fund.” The city set aside $300,000 to pay Goody Clancy, and kicked in an additional $50,000 in grant money.
That means the city already has $17.3 million tied up in the project.
The two undetermined costs will likely be the largest. That is, the cost of buying the adjacent property around the Target site and building the City Hall.
The city already received some estimates about the cost of buying adjacent property.
In 2008, its appraiser did a preliminary estimate of 11 parcels and determined they would be worth $7.35 million, plus or minus 15 to 20 percent. The economy is different today and the some of the owners of the property the city wants aren’t interested in selling, which could jack up the final price if the city takes these parcels using eminent domain.
The cost of building is even harder to gauge. Larry Young, a city judge and president of the Sandy Springs Council of Neighborhoods, said during a March 22 meeting that he looked at information related to the building of nine city halls in the metro area. He said costs ranged from $9 million to $50 million.
“It depends on how big it is,” Young told the council.
Jan Saperstein, owner of Sandy Springs Plaza and a member of the Main Street Alliance, thinks he has the cost figured out. He thinks it will cost $20.6 million.
Saperstein presented his estimates during the March 22 meeting to help him make the Main Street Alliance’s case that the Target site should be a park and not a municipal complex.
Saperstein’s estimate assumes the city will build a 75,000 square foot, two-story building. It excludes the cost of the land the city already purchased. His estimate includes $1.6 million in site preparation, $3 million for a parking deck and $1 million in interior improvements.
Saperstein, whose job involves developing and leasing commercial real estate, said he would have a hard time getting the financing for a project like the one the city plans.
“If we were building this today, ourselves, it wouldn’t get built,” he said.
Assuming Saperstein’s conclusions are accurate, adding that to what the city currently has invested in the project, the cost would be $38 million.
But nothing is certain. These estimates assume the City Hall will be built on the Target site. Goody Clancy’s report could suggest an alternative plan. The firm has promised to keep an “open mind” when deciding where the City Hall should go.
A complex debate
Sandy Springs plans for a municipal complex deal with a host of issues, reflecting the intentions, ambitions and egos of the city’s political and business leadership.
To help readers sort through the maze of legal jargon and political arguments, we’ve provided this guide to help you make sense of it all.
Factors complicating Sandy Springs City Hall plans:
Some members of the community in 2008 questioned purchasing the Target site and continue to question it, asking whether the city paid too much. City leaders at the time said they got a bargain when they paid $8 million for the property.
The Sandy Springs Reporter newspaper reviewed the property’s appraisal and discovered it was based on the parcel containing 8 acres while a survey shows the property is actually 6.9 acres. There were also non-compete covenants limiting its commercial uses, but the appraisal did not account for them. City officials and the appraiser say these factors would not have affected the conclusion the property was worth the $8 million the city paid for it.
Not everyone on the current City Council agrees the former Target property is the best spot and want to consider alternatives.
In April 2011, the Main Street Alliance gave a report to the City Council saying the municipal complex should go on the former Target site. In March of this year, the alliance told the city it no longer supports this recommendation and would like to see the property become a park.
Sandy Springs Mayor Eva Galambos says she is “wedded” to the Target site as the spot for the city’s future municipal complex and says it is in a strategic location that is accessible from all directions. Galambos, who played a large role in the founding of the city in 2005, has political clout that is hard for the City Council to ignore.
Whatever the council decides will shape the city’s identity for decades.
Will the city force the owners of property around the Target site to move so it can make room for the municipal complex? Some of these property owners say they aren’t interested in selling. And some council members say they are reluctant to use eminent domain to force them to sell. If the city used eminent domain to buy the property, the parcels could only be used for a public use for 20 years, meaning the city could not develop the complex with private investors.
