Months after the Juneau residents turned down a plan to build a brand new city hall for the second time in a row, city officials are now beginning to grapple with the necessity of finding an office building.
City manager Katie Koester said finding a rental property that would unify the city’s functions could aid city employees as well as the general public.
“If there’s any way we could unify these departments that are public facing in order to create a less of a path for people to follow in order to make their payments, and obtain their permits and their swimming pass This is the primary focus we’ll be focusing on,” she said.
City Hall holds fewer than half of city employees. In the fall of this year the city was unsuccessful in securing approval from voters to finance the construction of a new city hall with an investment of $27 million. This building would be home to all city employees.
In a meeting of the committee Monday evening at a committee meeting, at a committee meeting on Monday night, Juneau Assembly directed city staff to determine which spaces the city could lease to accommodate the 60 percent of its workforce that can’t be accommodated in City Hall. The employees currently work in four offices located in downtown buildings including that includes the Marine View building, Municipal Way building, Sealaska Plaza and the Seadrome building. The cost is around $823,000 a year to lease these offices.
The Municipal Way building lease ends in June 2028, following the acquisition by the Sealaska Heritage Institute. The lease on Marine View building Marine View structure is scheduled to expire in the summer of 2028. The city may renew the lease, however Koester stated that the building has issues.
span style=”font-weight 400 ;”>”It’s simply that it’s been a tough lease and we’ve seen some issues due to issues with water and also the inadequate space for employees,” she added.
The city is currently looking at three possibilities for leasing space. One would be an area large enough to accommodate all city employees as well as a space that could be used for Assembly chambers. The other option is to locate a space that could combine all employees that aren’t able to fit into City Hall now. Another option is to find a space large enough to accommodate only employees working located in Marine View Building. Marine View Building.
Koester explained that the staff will be sharing the findings of the research in members of the Assembly in the next few months. Koester said the results will likely provide information on what the city needs to spend money on the municipal hall. It is expected to need upwards of $14 million worth of repairs and maintenance to keep running.
