After years of bad publicity highlighting the structure’s shortcomings as a municipal and law enforcement home, Starkville officials hope to lure potential buyers for City Hall with the economic potential it has as a property located a short walk from Main Street’s influential economy.
Aldermen approved a resolution Tuesday to list the decades-old structure, along with lagoon property north of the city, for sale as part of a financial shell game that could cover the costs associated with the expected purchase of Cadence Bank’s Main Street branch.
The Cadence purchase would mean a move to the facility for Starkville Police Department, while city employees would eventually take over the new administrative complex under construction at the end of Main Street.
For years, elected officials have struggled with City Hall’s feasibility as a municipal home. Starkville’s government inherited the building, originally designed by N.W. Overstreet for use as a National Guard armory, almost 50 years ago when the town was a small, slow-paced community.
As Starkville’s population increased in the past decades, so did the demand for city services. Increased demand meant more civil servants working within the building, which led to a variety of spatial issues.
For example, officials recently interviewed three teams that could potentially handle Starkville’s annexation study. The interviews were not held at City Hall, but rather at the Greater Starkville Development Partnership, because of the inability to seat large groups within the building as other government functions, including Starkville Municipal Court, occur.
Infrastructure issues became more prevalent in the last few years, as officials began reporting water and sewage leaks with greater frequency.
“For its original purpose, it’s a well-designed armory,” said Starkville Chief Administrative Officer Taylor Adams in reference to how well the structure serves as the city’s administrative home. “When you consider what (Overstreet) was tasked with in drawing an armory for the federal government, he did an outstanding job. When you build it as an armory, however, it makes future repurposing a bit difficult.”
Despite these issues, he said City Hall could prove to be a hot commodity once it hits the market on Jan. 1 simply because of its close proximity to Main Street’s numerous restaurants and retail stores.
The parcel is zoned T-6, meaning it is classified as a high-density, transect district. Zoning rules allow for a multitude of residential and commercial developments within T-6 areas, including multi-tenant dwellings and hotels, and a wide range of restaurants, retail establishments and offices.
Office usage would be a less-expensive — the property itself appraised for an average of $850,000 in two estimates — option for potential buyers as the building is already a glorified office with its own security detail, an existing program that would reduce future redesign and renovation costs.
Adams, however, said he hopes potential investors aim higher.
He highlighted two upcoming mixed-use developments — retail on the first floor, with either condos or apartments above — on Lafayette Street as indicators that investors are seeing a growing market for living space within the city’s core.
“It would be great if the structure could somehow be repurposed to a live-work-play environment for the creative class of millennials that look for that urban living environment that this part of town would offer,” he said. “Continued growth and success of Starkville’s central business district is in a larger residential population. I’m excited because there seems to be a real sense of urgency in acquiring downtown real estate and developing it.”
Such developments could prove expensive for potential suitors in terms of renovation and construction costs after acquiring the property; however, future tax credits and other grants could follow if the building is designated as a historic site. Buddy Sanders, Starkville Community Development director, said city staff members have already initiated a process to get the building registered as an example of Overstreet’s Works Projects Administration-era designs.
Renovation estimates for commercial or mixed-use developments depend on the nature of the business plan and widely vary. Starkville itself planned to use about $1.3 million generated from certificates of participation, the primary funding mechanism in the public-private partnership that yielded the new City Hall project, but many aldermen Tuesday said they didn’t think the amount would fully shore up the existing structure for long-term SPD usage.
“It’s good money chasing bad,” said Ward 5 Alderman Scott Maynard Tuesday of City Hall renovations. “It’s important we spend the taxpayers’ money wisely. It’s also important we invest for the future, as well as our current needs.”
The shell of City Hall itself, Adams said, is structurally sound, and the property comes with advantages over others in the area: its own parking lot and pedestrian access to the rear of the facility via an alleyway.
Business partners Ty Thames and Brian Kelley recently opened The Guest Room, an upscale speakeasy, at the rear of the alley-abutting Restaurant Tyler. A similar development could theoretically open on the City Hall property, but it would depend on the distance of the business to the nearby church.
Starkville’s alcohol laws currently prohibit by-the-drink sales within 250 feet of churches and schools, while package and convenience stores can sell booze for off-premises consumption closer to the same facilities. At least one alderman indicated a willingness to reduce the restaurant requirement to what is mandated by state law, but that debate was quickly squelched earlier this year.
Starkville officials are expected to continue Cadence negotiations into the next year. The bank’s Main Street branch appraised for $3.15 million, but the city is expected to cap its offer for the facility at $2.55 million.
Future renovation costs associated with the city’s transition into the building depend on how officials program the facility – whether they move municipal court out of the upcoming City Hall and if they allow Cadence to maintain a first-floor presence beyond its drive-thru – and how much SPD grows in the future.
Moving the court system to the Cadence property alone could cost at least seven figures, Adams warned aldermen, and leaders could face $500,000-$750,000 in renovations if they wish to meet SPD’s growth models in the next two decades.
Aldermen are likely to nix the court move and reach a revenue-generating deal to allow Cadence to maintain at least its former drive-thru teller area.
Police Chief Frank Nichols told aldermen Tuesday that taking additional first-floor space from SPD would create security risks and prevent his department from growing proportionally to the city’s population, but at least one board member told the first-year chief to be open minded because of funding issues.
“I would hope you’d be open to something like that to help us help you make this work, because we don’t have enough money right now to make this work,” said Ward 3 Alderman David Little.
Carl Smith covers Starkville and Oktibbeha County for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter @StarkDispatch
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 41 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.