On Friday, officials moved to terminate Troy’s lease of the current City Hall building on River Street.
Officials in Troy say they delivered a letter to landlord First Columbia, activating the termination of the lease. They say it’s all part of advancing Mayor Carmella Mantello’s longstanding priority to relocate City Hall. She addressed the matter at a 2021 legislative address while serving as City Council president.
“It’s time to finally cut the cord, and Troy deserves our own City Hall,” Mantello said at the time.
Alex Horton, a spokesperson for the mayor, says a new home for City Hall will be unveiled in the coming weeks, and officials expect to relocate out of the Hedley Park Place building by January 2027.
“This is a procedural step in the long way to processing and fulfilling the mayor’s promise to the people to find a permanent home for City Hall,” Horton said.
But the City Council is divided on whether the relocation is even necessary. The council’s Democratic minority is pushing back on the latest announcement.
Council President Sue Steele called the move “premature.”
“I'm really concerned about how they've gone forth with this idea of a city hall. There's been absolutely no public engagement at all. The City Council has not been involved at all, and the mayor seems to be priding herself on this being a big surprise that she's going to be announcing. I don't think that's how you run a government.”
Steele, who has long been concerned over the state of city finances as a rotation of comptrollers rolls through City Hall -- including a new comptroller appointed last week -- says the city has more important priorities. She pointed to replacing lead contaminated-pipes, constructing a firehouse in the city’s Lansingburgh neighborhood, completing renovations at Knickerbocker Pool, and finalizing ongoing union negotiations.
Councilor Aaron Vera, a Democrat from District 4, says the timeline, to be in a new home by January 1, 2027 seems fast.
“If we're talking about new construction, it’s probably an aggressive schedule,” Vera said. “If you're talking about substantial renovations to an existing structure. So, no, again, I have concerns about the timeline that the city has now signed up to.”
The mayor’s spokesperson says, per the lease, the city was required to inform the landlord of its termination by June 1. Horton says January 2027 is not a promise, but a goal.
“It is our goal and our plan, not a promise, just a goal and a plan to be in the new City Hall and up and running on January 1, 2027,” Horton said.
The city has been renting space in the Hedley building for more than a decade. Annually, the city pays roughly $400,000 for space on the fifth floor. Last year, the city declined to pay more than $180,000 in charges it believes are inaccurate Common Area Maintenance bills. The city and its landlord are currently in a legal battle over the charges.
First Columbia did not respond to WAMC’s request for comment.
Council president pro tem Thomas Casey, a District 5 Republican, says the plan to move could advance historic preservation efforts in the city. Casey says in the long run, a new city hall, whether it be a build or retrofit, is worth it.
“I have my own opinions about where I'd like to see City Hall go. My ultimate, which would never happen, is I would love to see us build a beautiful historic city hall. But everybody says that's a bridge too far. I always say every town in this country has a beautiful city hall for the most part. Somehow, they did it. We can too, but I just don't think that's in the cards.”
A fellow Republican, councilor Ryan Brosnan agrees. Brosnan represents District 2.
“That's kind of what the city of Troy is,” Brosnan said. “It's an industrial city that's been repurposed, and that would be cool for to the city government to follow suit in the way the city's gone and saves an additional building, too.”
Brosnan says to move forward, though, it has to make financial sense.
“Obviously you could go in and spend unlimited money on a building, but I think it's going to be a fiscally responsible purchase and the retrofit should also follow suit in that,” Brosnan said. “If the administration comes with some crazy number, I don't really need to be concerned, because it's not going to go through if it doesn't make any kind of financial sense.”
Council President Steele called a special meeting ahead of its regular meeting Thursday, June 5 at 6pm to discuss the termination of the lease.
