TALL HALL.

• Author: Mildenberg, David
• Position: STATEWIDE: Triangle

A big city needs a big city hall, prompting Raleigh politicians to push for a 20-story structure that could open as soon as 2023. The capital's city council approved a plan for a $190 million building with 420,000 square feet, consolidating 1,050 workers now in six downtown sites. It would become North Carolina's biggest municipal building.

Councilors concluded that a bigger upfront cost will pay off, with enough space for 10 to 15 years of growth if city staff expands at its his tone pace, says Joe Michael, a city senior urban designer. The tower is slated for the corner of McDowell and Hargett streets, replacing the city's old, unused police headquarters.

Since the adjacent Raleigh Municipal Building opened in 1983, the city's population has more than tripled to 460,000. The council also favors expansion rather than paying an estimated $80 million to maintain the city's down town properties over the next two decades. If it doesn't build its own structure, the city will spend $120 million to $160 million in leasing costs over that period, officials say.

"What taxpayers don't see is the cost of leasing space in downtown Raleigh, where there's a shortage of office space," Michael notes. Raleigh now spends more than $1 million annually for about 42,000 square feet of space at privately owned downtown buildings. Leases for the most desired center-city offices now top $30 a square foot.

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