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New City Hall to Cost Additional $50M

New City Hall
Rendering of Fort Worth's city hall building | Image by City of Fort Worth/FOX 4

Fort Worth’s new city hall building will cost an additional $50 million over budget estimates, according to the city manager.

The new estimated price tag for the building is now $230.5 million. The total cost covers various expenses relating to staffing, infrastructure, and construction costs, Project Manager Tanyan Farley of Athenian Group, the advisory firm hired to manage and oversee the project, told city council members during a February 7 work session.

“It is never, ever easy to come to this table and say, ‘Oh, and we’re going to recommend that we need more money for this vision’ — but we’re at that point,” Fort Worth City Manager David Cooke told council members during the work session.

Fort Worth’s new city hall will be located on the site of the Pier 1 building at 100 Energy Way.

According to Farley, there are five main factors driving the need for the $50 million budget increase, including added costs relating to inflation, the scope of the project, the need for added staff, future maintenance, and requirements relating to the construction site’s designation as a federal floodway, the central and most at-risk part of a floodplain.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) defines a floodplain as “any land area susceptible to being inundated by floodwaters from any source.”

This floodplain designation meant that the City had to receive a special construction permit from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers before the project could move forward, pushing the project’s construction timeline into 2024.

To meet federal floodway requirements, the site had to undergo waterproofing, structural, and grade changes, according to Farley, who placed floodway expenses at around $7-8 million.

“The federal floodway had some pretty significant impacts” on the timeline and budget, Farley told council members. Changes needed to be made “all across the council chambers, the parking garage, and the site itself,” he said.

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1 Comment

  1. gypsy

    crooks at work
    still no justice, our children under attack, our votes do not count just fake ballots.

    Reply

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