Gahanna eyes Tech Center building to consolidate City Hall, police division, senior center

Gahanna residents are invited to have a say in what city facilities may look like in the future during Aug. 15 and Sept. 6 Gahanna City Council public hearings on the matter.

The meeting begins at 7 p.m. at City Hall,  200 S. Hamilton Road.

A building at 825 Tech Center Drive would allow the city to accommodate the police headquarters, City Hall and senior center into one location to meet future operational needs for decades to come, according to Laurie Jadwin, Gahanna mayor.

“The administration has had ongoing conversations with council dating back to the fall of last year with regards to assessment of city facilities both in terms of the existing facilities, as well as challenges we’re having with regard to needed programming space,” she said during an Aug. 1 City Council meeting. “That discussion included an exploration of options that are available to address those needs.”

Jadwin said a July 20 town hall meeting was held with residents to discuss and share information with them around not only the assessments that were done but also with regard to the opportunity that presented itself that would position the city to address the needs of at least those three city facilities for decades to come at 825 Tech Center Drive.

“My office and our internal facility committee developed a timeline for this project and it outlines the actions that need to be taken by council should the decision be made to pursue this project and this opportunity,” she said. “That timeline, it should be noted, is one that aligns with the seller in this case. This is a commercial real estate transaction. And as such, there are certain parameters over which we have no control. The sellers need us, when they need to move on this property, is something that’s dictating this timeline.”

Aug. 1 was the first of three public hearings regarding facilities, but no members of the public spoke about the issue.

Council President Stephen Renner encouraged the council audience and anyone watching virtually to “please take this serious, look at our facilities page. We’re really hoping to have a constructive dialogue about this.”

Dan Pearlman, the city's public-information officer, said council’s vote is tentatively scheduled at the Sept. 6 meeting.

He said the building on Tech Center Drive is currently vacant as a result of the pandemic.

During the July 20 town hall meeting, Kevin Schultz, Gahanna's information technology manager who has experience in urban planning, said the cost estimate for the project would be $60.9 million at Tech Center in comparison to $99.4 million to build new facilities.

A facility study completed in 2005-06 by RP Hughes Architects Inc. indicated the city needed 100,000 square feet of additional space to meet operational needs at that time.

Another assessment completed in 2017 by OHM Advisors and consultant Roger D. Fields and Associates, released in 2018, found a majority of the city’s facilities, including the police headquarters and City Hall, to be rated “fair” to “poor” based on 27 criteria, according to city documents.

A third study by Pizzuti Solutions Inc., presented to City Council in October 2021, reaffirmed the needs identified in the previous two assessments.

While exploring options to address the needs that have been identified, the building at 825 Tech Center Drive presented itself, Jadwin said.

If acquired, the city would renovate the facility and build a 31,000-square-foot addition, accommodating all city services currently housed on South Hamilton Road, according to city documents.

The 3-story brick office building on Tech Center was built in 1998 by Daimler, a regional developer, containing 96,960 square feet of leasable space on 7.14 acres, according to loop.net.com. It last was sold in October 2018 for $10.85 million, according to Franklin County Auditor's Office records.

Issue 12, approved by voters in 2019, would cover the cost of the project without the need for additional taxpayer money, according to city documents.

Issue 12 changed the city’s income-tax rate from 1.5% to 2.5% and increased the tax credit from 83.33% to 100% for those who pay municipal taxes elsewhere.

The first reading of a purchase and sale agreement and bond legislation is scheduled at the Aug. 15 Gahanna City Council meeting.

The tentative timeline also shows signature of purchase and sale agreement and bond legislation Oct. 6 and bonds issued Nov. 2.

mkuhlman@thisweeknews.com

@ThisWeekMarla

This article originally appeared on ThisWeek: Gahanna eyes consolidation of City Hall, police, senior center