Fort Lauderdale staff start owner—representative procurement and signal City Hall redevelopment options

City staff told commissioners they had received seven responses to an owner—s-representative solicitation and that a selection and contract award are expected in the spring. Staff said the next steps are to finalize a design criteria package and to test several high-level site options for a consolidated administrative campus.

Why it matters: City Hall is currently partially vacant and staff argued that a single consolidated administrative campus could improve operational efficiency and reduce leased-office costs. Staff also presented alternatives including: renovating or rebuilding at the existing City Hall parcel (including replacing the existing low-rise garage with a podium and mixed-use towers), purchasing or leasing an existing building, or retaining decentralized offices and pursuing long-term rentals. Commissioners and staff also discussed a potential town-gown/government campus anchored by the police headquarters and the reuse of federal property (the GSA federal building) if disposal and adaptive reuse become viable.

What staff said: Staff will evaluate options for: (a) a rebuilt City Hall with integrated parking podium and mixed-use towers; (b) a new consolidated campus on the existing municipal parcel (tear-down and ground lease/design); (c) land swaps or acquisition opportunities (including sites across Andrews Avenue and near the police site); (d) interim leases and phased redevelopment. Staff said an owner's representative will help develop a design criteria package and a procurement model (design-build or design-bid-build or P3). A timeline for bringing an owner's-rep award back to the commission was estimated for March—April and staff said a design solicitation could follow in the spring.

Commissioner feedback: Commissioners repeatedly emphasized a preference for maximizing the City Hall parcel—s long-term value — including a podium garage with tower floors used for mixed-use or government offices — but asked staff to develop firm square footage estimates and cost modeling. Commissioners asked staff to avoid excessive near-term investment in the existing garage and to weigh leasing or public-private development strategies. One commissioner flagged interest in exploring a joint county-city campus in the same downtown corridor but also asked staff to pursue options on the current parcel.

Next steps: Staff will complete owner's-rep selection, produce design criteria and a high-level pro forma and return with site-level cost estimates and an implementation timeline for commission review.