County staff recommend exploring move to 1 Broadway Center to replace ageing County Office Building; nonbinding LOI proposed

Schenectady County staff and outside development partners on June 30 presented the Legislature with a plan to evaluate relocating county offices from the aging County Office Building (COB) to the former Broadway Center (the ex‑lottery building), and asked the Legislature to authorize county staff to sign a nonbinding letter of intent to negotiate next steps.

Ray Gillen, chair of Metroplex, and Steve Luciano, county director of facilities, joined County Manager Fluman to brief the committee on space constraints at the current 1960s County Office Building, repair costs and off‑site leases the county currently pays. Gillen summarized an RFP process that returned one responsive proposal for the Broadway Center that met the county's requirements for consolidated office space and parking.

Key points presented by staff: - COB condition and renovation: the current County Office Building dates to the early 1960s and requires a gut renovation; estimated renovation cost given in the presentation was roughly $40 million and would not solve parking and off‑site lease needs. Renovation in place would require substantial temporary off‑site leasing and related costs. - Broadway Center proposal: the building proposed (1 Broadway Center) offers approximately 158,000 square feet, superior parking (about 400 surface spaces plus a 1,200‑space garage), modern systems (asbestos‑free, energy‑efficient lighting, new HVAC and generator in developer scope) and potential nearby synergies with county operations at 797 and 388 Broadway. - Finance structure proposed: the developer proposes that bonds be issued to the County Capital Resource Corporation (CRC) to achieve lower interest financing; the project outline included a $56 million bond with estimated annual debt service of about $3.6 million and an upfront payment of $600,000. The presentation included conservative assumptions subtracting Social Security lease revenue and current off‑site leasing costs; staff estimated a net annual cost around $2.44 million for the Broadway option versus an estimated $3.3 million annual cost for staying in the existing COB (debt service on a $44 million bond plus continuing lease costs). The CRC fee and related administration were estimated in the presentation at about $272,000.

Gillen said construction timing estimated in the developer's proposal included a scoping period of about six months followed by 14 months of construction with a late‑2026 move‑in target. The team said the Broadway Center proposal included tenant improvements funded in part by the Social Security Administration lease (about 12,000 square feet) that pays above $430,000 per year for the next four years, dropping to roughly $300,000 thereafter. The developer included a labor harmony agreement and proposed use of prevailing wage. The presentation noted the CRC cannot issue bonds above $10 million without legislative approval; the committee would receive further detail and a formal bond request before final approval.

What the committee was asked to do: authorize the county manager to sign a nonbinding letter of intent (LOI) to begin negotiating a development agreement and construction contract with a completion guarantee, then to return to the Legislature with final bond and lease approvals. The committee voted to move the item to the agenda for further consideration.

Speakers quoted or paraphrased in this article are identified by name and role as they appear in the meeting record.