Where will Bradenton build new City Hall? Report says this corridor is the ‘best option’
With Bradenton’s downtown City Hall on the market and attracting interest from big-budget developers, a new report says there’s a perfect place to rebuild the headquarters for local government.
The city’s Community Redevelopment Agency commissioned a study by an economic consulting firm that determined that the best place to build a new City Hall is on 14th Street West, which could generate $53 million in economic output by attracting new businesses and residents to the area.
“Based on the analysis we’ve done and based on the data, basically, relocating the new City Hall on the 14th Street corridor is the best option for Bradenton,” said Clyde Daio, an economic analyst and founder of the Regional Economic Consulting Group. “That is the best option for Bradenton.”
Despite the report’s findings, some city leaders said they would prefer to review additional properties before committing to where they will build a new City Hall. Bradenton has proposed demolishing the police department’s old substation in the 1400 block of 14th Street West and using city-owned land for the building, but an official decision has not been made.
Building the government center on 14th Street West, less than a mile south of City Hall’s downtown location, would likely spark an interest in economic development and turn around a part of Bradenton that has struggled to attract interest from investors, REC said in its 38-page report.
“14th Street is not the best place that attracts new investors. It is considered a blighted place with very old and dilapidated structures around it,” REC wrote. “There is a need to change negative perceptions. Constructing the new City Hall (on) this site will surely help change the perceptions.”
City Hall site could spark redevelopment
Several city officials said they could get behind the idea of using City Hall to revitalize that part of town.
“If City Hall is there, someone is going to come in and want to redevelopment some of those areas and put in restaurants and put in services because we’re going to have a full building of people,” Councilwoman Marianne Barnebey said.
“I’ve always thought of moving City Hall to the old 14th Street because I didn’t think anything was going in there,” said Councilman Patrick Roff. “What I’m hoping is there will be a restaurant right across the street.”
After years of talking about moving City Hall away from its placement on waterfront property along the Manatee River, Bradenton officials put the property up for sale in April. Five developers submitted detailed purchase offers, including plans to redevelop the site into some combination of hotels, condos, retail or apartment units.
When will Bradenton decide City Hall’s future?
But the clock is ticking for city officials to decide where the new building will go. In a workshop meeting Wednesday, Councilman Patrick Roff urged Bradenton City Council to move forward with a vote to build City Hall on city-owned property on 14th Street West.
“If City Hall is going to sell, we still need to know where we’re going,” Roff said. “Basically, it’s at a giant standstill.”
But Roff’s fellow council members asked him to show patience, arguing that the relocation of City Hall is not a done deal and that more community outreach should take place before an official vote to determine which property to use.
“We were very clear that we were going to engage the citizens and engage the community,” said Councilman Marianne Barnebey. “I would be hard-pressed to vote on something next week when we haven’t really done much of that. We set out a process. We need to let the process work.”
“I’m not saying I disagree with 14th Street, but I think we have to have an opportunity to see some of the stuff that people have come to me about, too,” Mayor Gene Brown added, noting that the report did not take any other possible City Hall locations into consideration.
In an interview with the Bradenton Herald, Brown suggested that the city consider a wide range of options and cautioned council members against rushing to make a final decision.
“We haven’t even decided if we’re selling City Hall or not,” Brown said. “We’re not in a drop-dead time frame. I have no issues talking about it, but I hope our council would weigh the options of what rushing something would do to the public trust.”
What’s next?
The Bradenton City Council will have a public meeting to discuss whether to finalize the 14th Street West site. The meeting begins 8:30 a.m. Wednesday at City Hall, 101 12th St. W.
