Daytona Beach city staff exploring new City Hall; price tag could be as high as $75 million

Eileen Zaffiro-Kean, Daytona Beach News-Journal
Updated ·9 min read
Daytona Beach's city government has run out of its City Hall on the corner of Orange and Ridgewood avenues for 47 years. Now top city staff are looking into the possibility of building a new City Hall in a different location. Pictured is the dedication ceremony for the current City Hall in July 1976, which cost $1.5 million to build.
Daytona Beach's city government has run out of its City Hall on the corner of Orange and Ridgewood avenues for 47 years. Now top city staff are looking into the possibility of building a new City Hall in a different location. Pictured is the dedication ceremony for the current City Hall in July 1976, which cost $1.5 million to build.

DAYTONA BEACH — Does Daytona Beach need a new City Hall to replace the building that's been the city government's headquarters since 1976?

It's an idea City Manager Deric Feacher and his top city staff have been exploring, a venture that could ring up a $37 million bill just for construction of a new City Hall building.

Once other costs such as land acquisition, a new parking garage, streetscape improvements, utility upgrades, building design and permitting are added in, the total bill could climb as high as $65 million to $75 million, city records indicate.

One new City Hall proposal discussed among city staff members recently focused on acquiring property along Ridgewood Avenue north of International Speedway Boulevard. But multiple properties are being considered, Feacher told city commissioners in an email he sent them Wednesday afternoon.

"We have looked at city as well as private property as future options throughout the core of the city," Feacher wrote in the short email. "We will continue to evaluate our space needs and make sure you are provided with information to make the best decisions for our community."

Daytona Beach's first City Hall was a small wooden building at the western base of the Orange Avenue bridge. The second City Hall, pictured above, was a much larger structure at Orange and Palmetto avenues that was in operation from 1920 to 1976.
Daytona Beach's first City Hall was a small wooden building at the western base of the Orange Avenue bridge. The second City Hall, pictured above, was a much larger structure at Orange and Palmetto avenues that was in operation from 1920 to 1976.

The email was written in response to commissioners questioning Feacher after a News-Journal reporter told them Tuesday about the efforts this year to pursue options for a new City Hall. Neither the mayor nor any of the three commissioners the News-Journal spoke with were aware city staff members were actively looking into possibilities for new city headquarters.

Commissioners also didn't direct the city manager or staff to spearhead efforts to create a new home for the city's government.

"Why do we want to do this?" asked City Commissioner Ken Strickland, who stressed that he wasn't happy to hear about it for the first time from a reporter and not city staff or Feacher. "It really creates some trust issues with the city manager. A lot of stuff goes on where only certain people learn about something, and I'm not good with that."

Feacher assured commissioners in the email that "all expenditures and property locations must be supported by a majority of the elected body in a public meeting and not by staff." He also mentioned that other agencies might partner with the city to create a complex that could be used by the city, court system and county government.

But the email didn't provide any detail or clarify where things stand, and Feacher declined a request for an interview. Susan Cerbone, the city's communications and marketing manager, said Thursday there are no potential City Hall properties under contract, and there are no plans for a public meeting to discuss building a new city headquarters.

Property tax increase?

Feacher, who's been Daytona's city manager since June of 2021, said in the two-paragraph note to commissioners that he asked Deputy City Manager Dru Driscoll to look for possible City Hall sites that would be brought to commissioners for discussion next year.

If that discussion does take place, it's likely to get strong reaction from local residents who will question spending tens of millions of dollars.

One idea for how a large portion of the costs could be covered would probably also get some pushback.

An Oct. 25 email from Driscoll to Feacher suggests putting a referendum on the November 2024 ballot asking voters to approve the multimillion-dollar construction cost. Driscoll's email appears to be suggesting a temporary increase in property tax assessments to raise money for the building.

Whether that idea is being developed or has been dropped is uncertain, along with other aspects of the project, since the new City Hall proposal has only been discussed among city staff.

In 1976, some local residents didn't want Daytona Beach's City Hall at the corner of Palmetto and Orange avenues that had been used since 1920 to be torn down. The protestors lost, the building was demolished, and a new City Hall was built a short distance to the west.
In 1976, some local residents didn't want Daytona Beach's City Hall at the corner of Palmetto and Orange avenues that had been used since 1920 to be torn down. The protestors lost, the building was demolished, and a new City Hall was built a short distance to the west.

The clandestine approach might be partly explained by the need to acquire property quietly to avoid landowners trying to gouge the city.

The Oct. 25 email said the city was zeroing in on land on the west side of Ridgewood Avenue north of International Speedway Boulevard. The email also said the high-ranking city staff members who met that day had discussed asking Frank Molnar, a local commercial and business property Realtor, "and his LLC to first focus on the Family Dollar location and then move on (if not simultaneously) to the other properties."

The goal, Driscoll wrote in the email, was to get all the parcels under contract at the same time so they could be brought to commissioners for a decision all at once. The money to buy the land could come from the city's permits and licensing fund and the General Governmental Impact fund, Driscoll noted.

The email said city staff could talk to commissioners in one-on-one meetings "parallel to the property acquisition." He also said there was a project brochure they could be shown.

The email was detailed, and referred to the five city staff members receiving the note and himself as being a part of the New City Hall Project Group. He wrote that the city employees had met that day to "confirm a site recommendation and strategy to move forward."

Feacher's email to city commissioners this week was much more general. It noted in broad strokes that there had been past efforts under the former city manager to build a new City Hall.

Feacher wrote that "there have been numerous discussions with the county administration, chief justice of the courts and potential governmental partners about consolidating and centralizing operations."

The city manager added that "we have also engaged some of our partners to work on a plan to consolidate potential locations of property for acquisition if that is the direction you all as elected officials were to support in the future."

City Hall project deja vu

A new City Hall would be another major project in a string of recent big-ticket financial commitments for the city.

On Nov. 15, city commissioners agreed to spend $28.6 million on upgrades to Jackie Robinson Ballpark over the next several years as part of a new 20-year contract to keep the Daytona Tortugas playing on the City Island ballfield. The city will eventually make back some of that money with rent the Tortugas will pay to play at the city-owned facility.

On Dec. 6, city commissioners voted unanimously to spend $1.6 million on three properties along Ridgewood Avenue between Live Oak and Loomis avenues that will provide land for a new fire station. Construction of the fire station will cost millions more.

With 925 full-time employees who are serving a growing city that has swelled to about 82,000 residents, staff members no longer all fit inside the current 50,000-square-foot City Hall. The Public Works Department has its offices in a building on Bellevue Avenue, and the Utilities Department works out of a building overlooking the Halifax River.

Other employees work in the Julia and Charles Cherry Cultural and Educational Center as well as the Yvonne Scarlett-Golden Center.

In 2020, toward the end of his 17-year stint as Daytona Beach's city manager, Jim Chisholm asked city commissioners to get behind constructing a three-story, 120,000-square-foot City Hall building on the east side of Ridgewood Avenue one block north of International Speedway Boulevard.

The proposal was to build a new city government complex twice the size of the current City Hall that could be combined with Daytona Beach Housing Authority offices. Also envisioned was a five-story parking garage with 800 spaces, an apartment building, grocery store, shops and a restaurant.

The proposed City Hall building would have sat on top of Bay Street just east of Ridgewood, and behind it would be a pedestrian-only mall that closed the full block of Bay to motor vehicles all the way to Beach Street.

The plan was intertwined with a proposal to give the apartment complex developer a $10.5 million tax break. But commissioners voted down the idea, with at least some of them unhappy that they had received details of the project only six hours before being asked to take a vote at their meeting.

The vacant site of the old First Baptist Church in Daytona Beach was considered in 2020 to become home to a parking garage and apartments that would be next to a new City Hall. The plans never came to fruition, and the property remains barren.
The vacant site of the old First Baptist Church in Daytona Beach was considered in 2020 to become home to a parking garage and apartments that would be next to a new City Hall. The plans never came to fruition, and the property remains barren.

That 2020 site is almost directly across the street from one of the areas that has been considered this year for a new City Hall.

If city officials are again interested in joining forces with the Daytona Beach Housing Authority on a government building and parking garage plan, that hasn't been shared with that agency's CEO, Charles Woodyard. But he's open to listening to the city's ideas.

"We're always interested in partnering with them, but the devil is in the details," said Woodyard, who was not the head of Daytona's housing authority back in 2020.

'This is kind of harebrained'

Any effort to build a new City Hall will have to win the support of at least four city commissioners. Strickland said he would be adamantly opposed to a property tax increase to fund the project.

He said he would need to know a lot more to determine if he would support the construction of a new City Hall. He said the city is "having a hard time taking care of what we already have."

Mayor Derrick Henry also wasn't aware that the city manager was talking with two deputy city managers and other department heads about a new City Hall effort. But Henry said the city has outgrown its main building and he's in favor of pursuing a new City Hall if the right plan is put together.

"I know we've been looking for a new City Hall for six or seven years," the mayor said. "It's something I'd like to see happen."

Daytona Beach Mayor Derrick Henry is open to considering construction of a new City Hall. Henry, at left, is pictured with City Manager Deric Feacher in August at a press conference on efforts to improve public safety along Seabreeze Boulevard.
Daytona Beach Mayor Derrick Henry is open to considering construction of a new City Hall. Henry, at left, is pictured with City Manager Deric Feacher in August at a press conference on efforts to improve public safety along Seabreeze Boulevard.

City Commissioner Monica Paris said "this is the first I've heard of City Hall needing to expand." Paris wants someone on city staff to explain why there's a need to build a new structure.

She's also already uncomfortable with the city's recent land purchases, and she wants the city to consider buildings and property the city already owns for expansion.

Past Daytona City Hall plan: Daytona commission ponders downtown developer's request for $10.5 million tax break

Local resident Anne Ruby stays on top of local happenings, but she hadn't heard about the recent interest in relocating City Hall.

"I think they're a little out over their skis," Ruby said. "I think this is kind of harebrained with all the city needs. Is this the best use of city money?"

She said the city could wind up taking private property off the tax rolls, and she wants to know what would become of the current City Hall.

She said she can't get behind the proposal without knowing about the need behind the idea, especially with so many people across the country working from home.

You can reach Eileen at Eileen.Zaffiro@news-jrnl.com

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Daytona Beach considering building new City Hall, looking for property