County considers consolidating offices with new building

What if (almost) all your county needs could be met in a two-block radius? As the county considers purchasing a piece of property not far from the Old Jail offices, that’s what it’s looking to accomplish.

Currently, there are plans for the Old Jail building, where the County administrator and several other county offices operate, to be renovated to allow for more space. Numerous county offices, including the District Attorney and the County Clerk, would like more space, or a new space, to be able to operate and function more efficiently.

As part of this plan, the county is now considering purchasing a piece of property on North Tioga Street, not far from the Old Jail, to be able to consolidate even more offices and create a more centralized campus for county business. The conversation around condensing county building started back in 2011. Studies were done and options were created but changes in the economy made it an unviable project to take on at the time.

Late last year the legislature authorized the County Administration office to enter into a four-month purchase option agreement for two neighboring parcels of land (408 and 412-414 North Tioga Street) just up the street from the current county court and County Ddministration offices.

After a feasibility study was done, several options for possible uses of the parcel were presented to both the County Legislature and the Ithaca Common Council Planning and Economic Development Committee. The purpose of the study included a review of the current and future space needs of county departments, consolidate offices into a single location downtown to maximize efficiencies and minimize lease payments, build a model municipal building, and improve the parking options for employees and visitors. A study by HOLT Architects found that the county would need between 30,000 and 37,000 square feet of space. Part of the parcel falls into both the local and national Dewitt Historic District designation.

The study produced four possible scenarios for use of the parcel:

Scenario 1 – New building, renovation of older building, and more parking. This option would give the county 37,000 square feet of space in a three-story building, and 48 parking spots. The existing building at 408 Tioga would be renovated and consolidated with a new building, while 412-414 would be torn down (this part of the plan does not change in any scenario).

Scenario 2 – New building, renovation of older building, build three new single-family homes, add parking. This option would give the county the same 37,000 square feet of office space but would only include 27 parking spots. On the Sears Street side of the parcel, three new single-family homes would be built with a green buffer in between the back yards and the parking lot. This option comes with an alternative that still includes three residential units, they would just be smaller, allowing for tandem parking stalls that would give the county 44 parking spots.

Scenario 3 – New building, renovate older building, five new townhomes, parking. This option still has 37,000 square feet of space, but only 27 parking spots. Parking for the townhomes would be under the first floor.

Scenario 4 – New building, renovate old building, two new duplexes, parking. The same 37,000 square feet of office space and 27 parking spots for the county. But, with four residential units in two duplexes, on Sears Street. Parking for the residences would be under the first floor. This scenario also comes with the alternative for tandem parking which would offer the county 44 parking spots instead.

The housing units, if built, would likely be sold to Ithaca Neighborhood Housing Services to develop the affordable units.

The parcel will be discussed again at the next county Facilities and Infrastructure meeting on March 21, and the options will be presented to the full legislature on April 2. County Administrator Jason Molino said they are looking to have a final decision made by the April 16 meeting of the full legislature.

“The options of purchasing the property is probably the first decision,” Molino said. “That may or may not include the selection of a scenario.”

It’s possible the legislature could purchase the property without knowing which scenario will end up being built. Molino said they are still discussing programming and which offices may move to the new building. High on the list is the county clerk’s office, which currently sits in the same building as the Tompkins County Court in the basement. Ideally, the clerk’s office would like to be more accessible to the public and moving to a new building could make that possible. Because the clerk’s office is in the court, members of the public must go through a security checkpoint just to get to the clerk’s office. The District Attorney’s Office, already stuffed into the space that it has, was also taken into strong consideration in the feasibility study. If the clerk’s office could be moved the DA could move to the basement. The county is also keeping in mind the possibility of a future third county court judge while determining space needs in the long-term. If the DA were to move to the basement, county judges could take up the third floor where the DA is now situated.

As to what will be put into the new building, that’s still up for debate. One of the goals of this project would be to move offices that are currently being leased into a county-owned building, saving the county money in the long run. Currently leased offices include: the Office of Human Rights, the DMV office on Third Street, and several offices in Center Ithaca for Assigned Council and Tompkins Workforce New York.

The purchase option for the property is for $1.8 million, but the costs for construction are currently unknown and likely will stay unknown until a scenario is chosen.

“We’re trying to have a win-win situation where everybody’s interests are met,” Molino said. “The workforce housing option really, I think, complements the neighborhood, complements the county’s interest in housing, complements the city’s interest in housing. Making sure that whatever we build, if we were to build or restore, is complementary to the neighborhood, so the engagement from the neighborhood is very important.”

It is for similar reasons that Molino presented the different scenarios to the City of Ithaca’s Planning and Economic Development Committee. It was made clear that the City doesn’t really get much say in what would be built on the property if the county chose to buy it, but their feedback and concerns were listened to. Several committee members noted that more parking is not what they would want to see downtown.