Troy Mayor Carmella Mantello is announcing plans for a new city hall.
Pressure has been mounting in recent years for the city’s headquarters to be housed in a city-owned property. The city has rented the fifth floor of the Hedley building on River Street for nearly 15 years and its current lease expired in late 2022.
Mantello said Monday the Request for Proposals seeks input from developers while keeping established options in mind.
“We're not reinventing the wheel by once again, there may be that hidden gem out there that we're not even thinking of,” Mantello said. “So that's why it's so appealing, this solicitation, because it just opens it up for potential partnerships that we haven't even thought of or dreamed of.”
The first-term Republican says South Troy’s Italian Community Center and the former Price Chopper in Lansingburgh are being looked at.
Multiple plans to develop and return City Hall to 1 Monument Square, its former home, have fallen apart.
For her part, Democratic City Council President Sue Steele says she is “cautiously optimistic,” but warns it’s a financial question.
“I certainly look forward,” Steele said. “I think an RFP is a good first step. I look forward to reading it. I look even more forward to the results of it. And we'll take a look at it. But at the end of the day, it needs to make financial sense for the future of the City of Troy.”
Steele says in order for any proposal to work, she needs to enhance her communication with the council.
“If we're going to have a true partnership going forward, and this city hall will require a partnership, that communication level has to change,” Steele said. “There has to be much more mutual respect going forward. And I have said all along, I said in my address, I'm more than willing to meet halfway or even more than halfway.”
Mantello says proposals should have 30,000 to 45,000 square feet, be ADA compliant, and offer parking spaces and access to public transportation. Mantello says a new, more thoughtfully laid out city hall would make it easier for residents to utilize services.
Mantello adds landlord First Columbia has proposed enhancements to the current space including a proper city council chamber. Mantello says the Hedley building is included in the proposal. She says current negotiations to temporarily extend city hall’s stay would require it to stay housed in the River Street location for a minimum of four more years.
“I see more, not just accessibility, but the offices actually being more intertwined, more open,” Mantello said. “It's very closed right now, cut off in various areas. “
The city council appropriated American Rescue Plan funding for a new city hall. Proposals must be returned by June 28.
