Easton City Hall Move, Alpha Building Sale Approved by Council

By Christina Georgiou

 Easton's city council approved both the move the city's municipal offices to the planned intermodal transportation center and the proposal to sell the Alpha Building, city hall's current location, with little discussion at their meeting Wednesday evening.

Both city Finance Director Chris Heagele and Easton Redevelopment Authority Director Gretchen Longenbach, along with Mayor Sal Panto, outlined advantages of the move and sale of the Alpha Building for council members.

Panto said the new municipal offices will instill pride and confidence that is lacking with the city hall's current location, though he added again that he supported the city's decision to occupy the Alpha Building in 1997.

"It was the right decision at the time," Panto said. "(But) people still don't know where city hall is. It's either the Alpha Building or the Crayola building."

Longenbach said there has been increase interest in Easton from developers in the last few years, but still, some buildings still need finanacial subsidies and incentives to make them viable investments. Additionally, new developments will require rents that are higher than the average market value in the city, which hinders their competitiveness with repurposed and rehabbed structures.

"The Easton transportation center has been in development for a number of years and affected by various market fluctuations in that time," she said. "While the original plan was to work with a private developer, the ultimate price of that meant substantial subsidy."

The cost of doing that would have been "cost prohibitive," Longenbach added, and moving the city's municipal offices to the new complex "allows for the construction of an attractive building at the gateway to the city."

"City hall occupying the Alpha Building saved this historic structure, but now it's the time to return it to the private sector," she said.

In a bullet-point list, Longenbach ticked off the advantages of the sale and move.

She said it will:

• Allow for the construction of an attractive and impressive building at a gateway location which is consistent with the city's urban planning goals and is appropriate in size, scale, and design
  
• Generate sale proceeds to be used to offset costs and reduce project debt
  
• Generate revenue from tenants in th eportion fo the building unused by city hall
  
• Fill a gap in the existing streetscape
  
• Create additional parking that is accessible but partially hidden to improve the street aesthetics, with parking that is needed in part to accomodate additioanl development and increased visitor projection by Crayola
  
• Create an attractive space for a much-needed bus transfer station and passenger area for LANTA and other regional bus lines
  
• Allow for a higher and better use for the Alpha Building in the private sector
  
• Allow for the consolidation of city hall and the creation of a more customer-service oriented experience for its residents and business owners

Heagele said the transportation center project is budgeted at $26 million, of which $4.6 million has already been spent to bring it to its current state.

Of the $21.4 million remaining, site work is expected to cost $1.85 million, construction of the parking deck will cost $8.1 million, the building that will house city hall, the LANTA bus terminal and the National High School Sports Hall of Fame will cost $11.25 million, and financing the deal will cost $200,000.

Grant funding, including $7.4 million in Federal Transportation Authority money through LANTA, will pay for $11.9 million, and the city is valuing the Alpha Building at $4.1 million, the same amount it paid for it in 2001, not a current appraisal of its likely sale price, he said.

A breakdown of the revenue increases and cost savings from a PowerPoint
presentation given by Easton Finance Director Chris Heagele
Wednesday evening.

Selling the Alpha Building and occupying the new space will net the city additional revenue and cost savings, for an estimated total of $645,000 annually, Heagele said.

Because the Alpha Building has "a lot of big ticket maintenance issues" that will need addressing in coming years, it additionally makes sense for the city to sell it, Heagle said, adding that the rent money will lose in transferring ownership is less than the estimated tax revenue the city will gain from it being occupied by private sector tenants.

"Moving out of this building works," he concluded.

Though a number of residents attended, there was no public comment on the proposal, other  than from one resident, who said he believed the project should contain recycled elements, preferably from Easton, wherever possible.

Officials noted that while that is probably not practical, the new building will be LEED certified, and a number of recycled and regionally-source materials are planned to be incorporated into the construction.

"This building speaks to the history of this place," said project architect Joseph Biondo. "We agree..this is the single-most important building that will be built in Easton for generations."

Present city council members voted unanimously in favor of the city hall move, as well as the Alpha Building sale, with the exception of Councilwoman El Warner, who was not present due to an illness, according to Panto.

A presentation outlining the construction contract was pre-empted prior to the vote when attorney Graham Simmons, who is representing the city's interests in the deal with Petrucci and Sons, unexpectedly fainted early in the explanation of the details to council members. Emergency medics were called to the scene, and he was transported to a local hospital, but Simmons was alert and talking after the fall.