The Cottonwood City Council voted to approve the $2.95 million purchase of a new city hall building at a special session Sept. 21.
The nearly $3 million purchase of the structure known as the “Rough Cut” building at 635 N. Main St., south of Riverfront Park, and two adjacent vacant parcels of land, comes after a lengthy back and forth conversation that first began in 2018.
“I know we’ve gone over this time and time again, but the current owner came back with a best and final offer,” Mayor Tim Elinski said after the council reconvened from an executive session.
The council voted 6-1in favor of purchasing the building, with Council Member Tosca Henry casting the dissenting vote.
The building sits on a parcel of 2.18 acres and is approximately 50,000 square feet. The town’s plan for the building is to move the city offices, including the finance department, council chambers, the city manager’s office and other functions, which are currently scattered across Main Street, under a single roof.
The building was purchased by Northern Arizona Healthcare around eight years ago but has sat empty ever since. In January 2021, the idea of purchasing the building for around $4.6 million from Platinum Realty Services of Sedona was brought to the council. At the time, it was estimated that an additional $2.6 million would be needed to furnish the building, install needed fixtures and pay for additional fees, taxes and insurance.
The building also comes with a parking lot that is in rough condition and will need to be overhauled before it is usable and lacks things like electrical work and heating and cooling systems. In April 2021, the council backed off from the idea, largely due to the cost, and instructed staff to look into the idea of building a new city hall building on property that was already owned by the city.
At the time, several council members, including Henry, expressed concern about spending money on consolidating city hall in any building, saying they’d rather save money instead of going into more debt in the midst of the pandemic. Now, since Platinum Realty came back to the city with the much lower offer of $2.95 million, the majority of council members are in support of the purchase.
“We have discussed pursuing other avenues, but this came back, and so we’re ready to move forward in a different direction,” Elinski said at the Sept. 21 meeting. “This is a best and final offer, so I think it’s time that we make a motion to go forward with the purchase of Rough Cut or not.”
Going forward, the town will need to make the necessary repairs and upgrades to the building before moving its offices. Once the city offices are moved, the current city buildings, which are located on prime real estate in Old Town Cottonwood, will likely be repurposed or sold for commercial use.
“I’m pleased that council made the decision to move forward with purchasing Rough Cut. This will allow us the opportunity to consolidate multiple scattered city facilities into one convenient location and open up our city offices in Old Town for private business which is much needed,” Elinski said. “For decades, we’ve discussed the need for a consolidated city hall, and I believe the Rough Cut building is the best value for the money invested.”
