Purchase Of New City Hall Building Approved

Thursday, July 12th 2007, 5:00 pm

By: News On 6

Tulsa is getting a new city hall building. The city council approved the move Thursday night. After almost three hours of debate, the city council voted 8-1 to move city hall. This is Tulsa Mayor Kathy Taylor's plan to consolidate all city offices. The plan will cost about $76 million. That includes the price of the building and other relocation expenses.

The building has more space than the city needs, leaving the city to rent out the rest of that space. Several Tulsa city councilors did not agree with the move. They did not want to go into the real estate business and did not want to be respobsible for being a landlord. So, they came up with a deal recently called a "master lease plan" that would bring a third party that would be responsible for the $12 million, which is the difference between what the city would need to pay and what it cost to lease out the extra space. The third party would commit to paying the $12 million, and the city, in turn, would be responsible for leasing the space.

"There are times in our city's history when we haven't had a council with the vision and the courage, and the voters and the citizens should understand that we do today, and they stood up and asked the tough questions and made the tough decision, and they're going to move this city forward,â€ said Tulsa Mayor Kathy Taylor.

There was one councilor would voted against the move. He was concerned about getting into the real estate business and what some opponents called "gambling with the taxpayers' money". Other folks were concerned about parking and how that would burden citizens.

Watch the video: Moving City Hall, Council Votes

Watch the video: Some Councilors Against Moving City Hall

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3/16/2007 Tulsa Mayor Thinking Of Moving City Hall

4/12/2007 Sneak Peek At A City Hall

6/7/2007 Mayor Moves Forward With Plans To Move City Hall

6/23/2007 City Councilors Discuss Moving City Hall