It’s still lights out at Fort Lauderdale City Hall.

The fate of the 1960s-era building remains unknown four weeks after a 1,000-year rainstorm flooded its basement with 8 feet of water, killing the power, the server and other vital functions needed to keep the building breathing on its own. For now, it’s being run on generator power.

The eight-story building took a beating on April 12 when a record-breaking storm took the area by surprise, dumping 26 inches of rain on the county seat within a matter of hours.

Insurance experts are still evaluating whether the old gray bunker at 100 North Andrews Avenue can be saved, City Manager Greg Chavarria told the South Florida Sun Sentinel this week.

Some members of the commission have been eager to declare the building a goner, but the ultimate decision falls to the city’s insurer.

Insurance money and FEMA assistance could help fund a new building. Without it, the city would have to foot the bill alone.

For the time being, the 300 employees headquartered at City Hall are either working from home or have set up shop in temporary office space.

Taxpayers are now spending $68,000 a day to keep the building running while insurance experts assess whether the building can be saved. If not, Fort Lauderdale hopes to recoup the loss through FEMA or its own insurance, Chavarria said during a recent commission meeting held at The Parker, several blocks north of the shuttered City Hall.

If the experts declare the building a total loss, there’s a proposal for a new City Hall waiting in the wings. The pitch, made by a developer in September, has not yet been accepted by the commission but could be in the future.

The Sun Sentinel has obtained a copy of the 144-page proposal and renderings of what the building might look like.

Renderings show a spaceship-like mirrored building up to 388 feet high, with as many as 18 floors — though city officials say they likely would not need a building that tall.

Waiting in the wings

“The new City Hall building will become a world-class beacon within its skyline as a clear landmark to both residents and all who visit the city of Fort Lauderdale,” the proposal states. “Like many other great cities, this innovative tower will be an identifiable symbol to the city. Its unique form is inspired by the city’s renowned boating and nautical culture symbolizing a link between those who govern and serve the people of Fort Lauderdale.”

The unsolicited proposal, sent to Chavarria on Sept. 9 along with a $25,000 check to cover the application fee, was submitted by a consortium of private entities, including Amber Infrastructure, E.J. Smith Legacy, Hensel Phelps Construction Co. and CGL Facilities Management.

The team, represented by prominent local lobbyist Stephanie Toothaker, was asking to develop, design, finance and construct a new City Hall facility, public plaza and expansion of the existing parking garage. The construction cost for the building was an estimated $700 per square foot, according to the proposal.

“Our team feels strongly that we would be able to provide the best value to the city and we are committed to working with the city to pursue a new City Hall project on its existing site or another preferred site that we would acquire and entitle for the new City Hall,” wrote Rodney Moss of Amber Infrastructure.

The team would also maintain the new City Hall facility under a performance-based maintenance agreement for two or more years.

The same team had been vying to build a $1 billion joint government complex that would serve both Fort Lauderdale and Broward County.

That project died last year when Fort Lauderdale commissioners pulled the plug, saying they could build their own City Hall for millions less.

Fort Lauderdale’s portion of the cost would have been close to $400 million.

“We cannot spend $400 million to build anything,” Mayor Dean Trantalis said at the time. “The number they have come up with is not affordable to us or them.”

Last week, Trantalis told the Sun Sentinel the joint government complex would have been 30 stories high.

“The county’s price was $3,000 a square foot,” Trantalis said. “They (the development team) came to us and said we can do this building for $700 a square foot. We only need 150,000 to 200,000 square feet. It would cost around $140 million.”

Iconic head-turner?

The commission plans to seek input from the public and the city’s Infrastructure Task Force, the mayor says.

“We will consider that unsolicited proposal and any other proposal that comes through,” he said. “We can also look at a design build, but you can encounter a lot of bumps in the road when you go that route. I’m hoping we can move forward quickly. We are spending a lot of money on (renting) temporary space. I think we need to get feedback from the public and the task force on what the next steps would be.”

All along, Trantalis has said he envisions an iconic head-turner of a building that will vibe with the up-and-coming Fort Lauderdale.

At least one person on the commission has an entirely different idea.

Commissioner John Herbst says he got a chance to see the renderings in March when he met with the project’s development team.

“It’s another attempt at an iconic design,” Herbst said. "And it’s intended to make an architectural statement. I don’t believe a City Hall built with taxpayer dollars needs to be an iconic building. I want it to look like an office building. I don’t want it to look like an architectural gem. It doesn’t have to be ugly. But I don’t want to spend extra money to make it look pretty.”

Herbst says he’d like the commission to hold a workshop to examine a variety of options on where city employees need to be headquartered.

Some might be able to work in cheaper quarters away from downtown, Herbst said.

“We need to start thinking about how we can do things differently,” he told the Sun Sentinel. “People can work from home. Work has become more fluid in terms of how and where it gets done. People who are saying we have to have a big office downtown are dinosaurs.”

Herbst says he wants to see the city change with the times.

“You are not going to appeal to Gen Z by telling them they have to commute downtown every day to be in an office and sit on a Zoom meeting,” he said. “You can’t attract new talent by forcing them to work in the old factories of labor. We really need to think about who needs to be in the most expensive real estate in the city.”

A week after the rainstorm, city officials said it might cost as much as $175,000 a day to keep the building running. That estimate has since been lowered to around $70,000 a day now that city employees have been moved to temporary office space.

‘We can’t just move in’

The original $175,000-a-day estimate came from Ashbritt, the city’s emergency vendor, according to Chavarria.

“The early estimate was based on what we saw happening those first three days,” he said. “If we decide to rehabilitate City Hall, we can’t just move in. This City Hall needs new HVAC equipment.”

Chavarria says he expects to have more details for the commission at their next meeting on Tuesday.

Herbst may have a fight on his hands trying to persuade the mayor to move employees out of downtown.

City employees are already scattered in buildings all over town, Trantalis said.

“By building a new City Hall, it gives them a one stop,” he said. “Also, the folks who work for us can interact with one another more efficiently in a single building.”

Commissioner Steve Glassman also opposes the idea of sending employees to offices far from downtown.

“I really believe it’s important for us to have everything concentrated downtown,” Glassman said. “For the public, downtown is much more centrally located. As a city looking forward to the future, we should be concentrated downtown.”

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