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Consultants advise against building a new Buckeye city hall now; recommend hub-and-spoke outposts and a facilities master plan
Summary
SmithGroup told the council that residents prefer digital services and community gathering space; the firm recommended testing a hub-and-spoke model and completing a facilities master plan rather than constructing a large new city hall immediately.
James Brayboy, project manager with the capital improvement program, introduced SmithGroup's City Hall envisioning findings at the May 19 workshop and said the next step is a facilities master plan to translate those findings into space and budget recommendations.
"We do not recommend a new city hall at this time," SmithGroup's lead presenter said, framing the recommendation as a response to resident feedback that split between preserving downtown identity and addressing access inequities across Buckeye's large geography. The consultants cited three high-level recommendations: make services more convenient (hub-and-spoke/outposts), optimize current space and grow in place to delay major real-estate investment, and integrate community gathering needs with parks and arts planning.
SmithGroup described substantial community engagement: interviews with council and staff, public workshops across the city, developer and business focus groups and surveys. The presenters said residents rarely visit city hall for routine transactions and tend to favor digital service options, while community programming and meeting space were repeatedly requested. Developers and staff preferred in-person interactions for permitting and business development; developers' attendance patterns suggested location was less important to them.
Council members asked whether the city should buy land now to reserve future options or prioritize leasing. Consultants and staff said that a long-term real-estate strategy ' including owned vs. leased analyses ' should be part of the facilities master plan (task 2). Consultants also recommended testing outpost prototypes (for permitting, bill pay, passports) and emphasized planning for employee workspace growth and possible desk allocation scenarios.
City staff and SmithGroup agreed the master plan will include timing analyses, space-programming, staffing projections and rough magnitude budgets to inform capital-improvement planning. Councilmembers emphasized they want options that balance fiscal restraint with operational efficiency; several members said residents oppose a large, expensive "statement" building and prefer functional, community-serving facilities.
The presentation concluded with an invitation to return with more detailed phased recommendations and district-level data to assist the council in budgeting and site-selection decisions.
