Building purchase could consolidate municipal offices around City Hall

Mayor Jeannette A. McCarthy this week presented to city councilors a proposal to move more municipal offices into the city center.

As part of the proposal, McCarthy asked councilors to approve seeking a $8,640,291 loan to purchase a building at 600 Main St., which is across Elm Street from City Hall. She said the city is currently in talks with the building owner to purchase it.

McCarthy said the city wants 600 Main St. in part because of its large parking lot but also plans to use the building for municipal office space. 

Under the current purchase terms, the city would immediately acquire the top two floors for its use. It plans to continue leasing space to the building’s current tenant, BrightBridge Credit Union, for at least the next three years. The city’s initial plans involve charging $732,000 in rent to the bank over the first three years.

According to McCarthy, the square footage of the building is large enough to hold all of the municipal offices currently housed at the Arthur Clark Government Center at 119 School St. She said the Human Resources and Law Department offices could move to the third floor of 600 Main St. but noted she hadn’t made plans beyond that. She added that the building should have enough space to house more city offices but noted she has not looked into moving city departments from anywhere other than 119 School St.

The City Council’s Long-Term Debt and Capital Planning Committee preliminarily approved McCarthy’s request to seek a loan. It requested McCarthy attend a future committee meeting to present the purchase details and a lease agreement with the bank, which she said she hoped to finalize by its next meeting.