Gadsden City Council OK's purchase of Merrill Lynch building for new City Hall complex

All the pieces of Gadsden’s planned relocation of City Hall are now in place. 

The City Council on Tuesday unanimously approved the purchase of the current Merrill Lynch building at 224 Broad St., directly across a parking lot from the Regions Bank building at 200 Broad St., which the city purchased in July. 

The cost was $2,007,000; that sum plus another $620,000 for architectural, design and engineering services from Williams and Blackstock to facilitate the move of city operations was withdrawn from the city’s undesignated fund balance. 

It should be a jump start toward Mayor Craig Ford’s goal of having City Hall moved by Oct. 1, 2024, to clear 90 Broad St., which has been the city’s base of operations for more than 60 years, for potential riverfront development opportunities. 

The Merrill Lynch building, constructed in 1997, will give the city another 9,789 square feet of space and 0.43 acres of property to go with the 28,000 square feet and 1.8 acres it acquired with the Regions Bank purchase (for $2.8 million). The two buildings have the same basic architectural design and share a common parking area. 

City officials, including council members, said the second purchase was always planned; everyone was just waiting for the negotiations to play out. 

"This purchase is the final puzzle piece to our new City Hall complex on Broad Street," Ford said. “We look forward to working with the architects to design a 21st-century City Hall complex that we can all be proud of.  

“At the same time, we are eager to transition over the next 12 months," the mayor continued, “which will open the current City Hall property for significant economic development investments.” 

Brett Johnson, Ford’s chief of staff, said during Tuesday’s precouncil works session, where the proposal was discussed (it was considered as new business in the regular council meeting after unanimous consent was granted), the initial asking price was more than $2.5 million, which was “too close to the Regions purchase to make sense.”  

Johnson said Ford got involved in the negotiations and after some appraisals were done, the final price was agreed on.  

The total expenditure for the two buildings is much less in present-day dollars than the original construction cost of the current City Hall. The $2.7 million bond issue in 1960 that funded it and the construction of two fire stations equates to more than $28 million in 2023. 

Following the withdrawal, the city will have nearly $25 million — enough to cover five months’ operating expenses — in its undesignated fund balance. Johnson said a decision by Ford to freeze spending a little earlier than normal as Fiscal Year 2023 wound down provided some extra savings that left the city in a better position there. 

The preliminary plan is for the Merrill Lynch building to host the City Council chamber and offices, and possibly the city clerk’s office and some police administration. However, a final determination won’t be made until Williams and Blackstock, which will be involved with both buildings, completes the architectural design process. 

Regions has a 10-year lease (with an annual rent of $60,000 and a commitment to fund $1.7 million in upgrades) to retain a small first-floor presence and half its current teller lines at 200 Broad St. Additional City Hall parking will replace the other lines. The city will have the rest of the first floor and all the second and third floors. 

Council members expressed excitement about the move from what has become an antiquated facility — Steve Smith said he’d never even decorated his current office — but the underlying priority is clearing the way for development of a valuable piece of land. 

“This property we’re sitting on right now has developers that are looking really hard at putting a large development here,” Council President Kent Back said, noting that the potential impact to the city would “be a lot larger numbers than we’re talking about,” as far as the expenditures for the two buildings. 

“And (it) will, as Mayor Ford has said, change the face of Gadsden,” he said. “It’s important for us to move and get out of the way. We’ve talked for decades about developing our river, and that’s what the administration and this council are doing. We’re working to develop the riverfront, and that means we have to move.” 

Council member Jason Wilson noted that with Regions and Merrill Lynch looking, in Gadsden and elsewhere, to downsize from massive brick and mortar locations, this also removes the possibility of two large buildings on Gadsden’s main street sitting vacant. 

“This checks a lot of boxes,” Wilson said. 

Ford thanked the council and Gadsden residents “for seeing this as part of the larger vision to grow Gadsden by maximizing each piece of property for future developments. One by one, we are all about to witness our city transform for the better. "