TROY, NY (Spectrum News 1) — Troy Mayor Carmella Mantello on Tuesday announced the new proposed site for City Hall in a place that used to be the center of downtown – the former Proctor’s Theater.
City Hall would take up a space in Proctor’s, but still leasing. Current tenants of the building include Rensselaer County Chamber and RPI.
The move, however, has come with controversy. City Hall has been a political football in the city for decades.
The mayor recently told First Columbia, owners of the current space at the Hedley Building, that the city would terminate its lease at the River Street location by not renewing it. First Columbia said through its attorney last week that the city didn’t inform the owners of the intent to move in time, potentially forcing City Hall to remain at the Hedley Building through 2029.
The mayor’s office responded, saying it’s taken the correct steps and plans to be at its new home by the start of 2027.
The plan is to utilize Troy Development Corporation to purchase the property for a $1.8 million sale price. A budget of roughly $8 million is in place to renovate and build out the space, but city officials say it will be influenced by public input.
The costs associated with City Hall’s current location is $700,000 per year, 20% more than it cost when City Hall moved into the Hedley Building, the mayor said.
Mantello anticipates that cost would increase to over $1 million over the course of the next decade. According to her, the costs in the new space would be level to start, but would decrease year after year with income opportunities.
An attorney for the Tully Rinckey law firm, which represents First Columbia, released a statement Tuesday in response to Mantello’s announcement, saying the city’s lease with First Columbia remains in effect.
“Today’s announcement by City of Troy officials about the future of City Hall changes nothing and is just theatrics,” said Tully Rinckey PLLC CEO Michael Macomber. “This decision by city officials is only going to cost the city millions of dollars and interrupt essential services to city residents.”
He said First Columbia was willing to listen to proposals for restructuring the lease to better suit the city’s needs.
The Democratic minority of the City Council has also claimed it had not been made aware of any of the administration’s plans, and according to City Council President Sue Steele, the council had been “left in the dark.”
This would make the fourth Troy City Hall location in the 2000s. A city-owned site at 1 Monument Square had to be demolished in 2011. City Hall then spent a couple of years at the Verizon Building before its current location in the Hedley Building.
