A one-stop shop. That’s how Vancouver City Manager Eric Holmes describes the new City Hall building at 415 West 6th Street in downtown Vancouver.
City staff and services from five Vancouver buildings moved under one roof for the first time late last month. A dedication ceremony and
open house is scheduled for Saturday, September 17, from noon to 3 p.m.
For Vancouver, this new, LEED gold certified facility represents a historic homecoming to downtown, located just a few blocks from where the first City Hall stood in 1886. But beyond the historical significance, the move simply represents good business.
The city bought its new headquarters (and adjacent vacant land) for $18.5 million out of bankruptcy court from the family owning the Columbian newspaper. Leveraging a depressed real estate market, city officials said the purchase price was about half its actual value.
The city also expects to save roughly $1 million each year from not leasing office space from the five separate buildings city agencies previously occupied. And with all those agencies in one location, Holmes said a lot of time is going to be saved.
“Instead of having to find an hour within the next ten days where I can meet with two or three people that are spread ten miles across the city, I can walk down the hall or upstairs and we can get the commerce of the city done just like that, said Holmes.”
In terms of benefiting Vancouver’s business community, Holmes offered the following illustration:
“Let’s say you’re a small business that wants to start something new downtown,” he explained. “You can come into this building, have access to our business development folks who can help you get connected with small business resources, you can access the permitting folks who can walk you through what it takes to get a permit, you can get your business license, and, if you need it, a parking permit for monthly parking in one of the downtown facilities. You can do that all right here.”
Tim Haldeman, director of general services for the city of Vancouver, said transitioning to the new building didn’t require a great amount of construction, so the costs associated with the move were minimal.
“Really the only big things we did construction-wise were the council chambers and the permit center,” said Haldeman. “The rest was just tweaking the inside of the building. We really took advantage of existing space.”
