City Hall Project | City of College Park, Maryland

Location

7401 Baltimore Avenue

Status

CITY HALL OPENS TOTHE PUBLIC ON DECEMBER 6, 2021
The The City of College Park’s brand-new City Hall will be open to the public on Monday, December 6, 2021!!

The Departments of Administration (Offices of the City Manager, City Clerk, Communications & Events, Economic Development, and IT), Human Resources, Finance, Public Services, and Planning & Community Development will move to the new City Hall at 7401 Baltimore Avenue. City phone numbers and office hours (Monday - Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.) will remain the same.

City Departments will be moving into the new City Hall on December 2 and 3, 2021. Due to the move, these departments will be closed to the public from December 2 at noon through December 3, and will reopen at the new location on December 6. If you need assistance during this time, please email the appropriate department or leave a voicemail message for the person you are trying to reach. We apologize for any inconvenience.

Click here to see the latest in construction via our project camera.

Project Updates

December 2021 - City Hall opens to the public on December 6. City Hall offices move into the building in early December.

October/November 2021 - Construction of the new building has been completed

February 2020 - Demolition of the old City Hall building began on February 26, 2020.

The City and University will host a Groundbreaking event on February 14, 2020 at 8:30 a.m. at the site of the project. Video of the event will be available on the City’s social media, website and cable channel afterwards. Please note that due to it being a work site, there is limited space and closed-toe footwear is required.

December 2019 - The Old City Hall parking lot and area has been closed off to the public in preparation for demolition and construction of the new project.

October 14, 2019 - City Hall staff have moved into the temporary space at 8400 Baltimore Avenue Suite 375.

October 3, 2019 - The City completed a bond sale of $16.370 million (the actual amount borrowed is $2.6 million less than projected). The City received a favorable credit rating of Aa1 in July 2019. $11.885 million (provides $12.5 million in proceeds) of the $16.370 million will go to the City Hall project, while $4.485 million (provides $5 million in proceeds) will go to the Duvall Field project. The annual debt service has been reduced to $901,000 for the first 20 years, and $593,000 for the last 10 years for a total cost of debt of $24.21 million ($5.65 million less than projected).

September 3, 2019 - City Council reviewed the City Hall development drawings that included a layout of Council Chambers during the worksession. All City Mayor and Council meetings now take place at Davis Hall.

September 2019 - Please see the updated Move Update below.

July 2019 - Beginning in September, Council meetings will take place at Davis Hall. In October, City Hall services will begin moving to its new location during construction. For details, see below under City Hall Move Updates.

July 2, 2019: City Hall project team presented the Mayor and Council with a City Hall layout and plan design update during the Worksession. To view the design update presentation, please click here.

April 16, 2019: City Hall project team presented the Mayor and Council with an update. To view the presentation, please click here.

March 6, 2019: The City and University hires Davis Construction to be the Construction Manager at Risk.

November 20, 2018: City Hall project team presented the Mayor and Council with an update. To view the presentation, please click here.

October 17 & 18, 2018: Two community meetings (one at City Hall, one at Davis Hall) were scheduled for residents to attend, comment and learn more about the project.

July 17, 2018: City awards contracts for the City Hall Project design team: Architect – Design Collective; Civil Engineer – A. Morton Thomas & Associates; Environmental Engineer – Arc Environmental; and Traffic Engineer – Sabra & Associates

June 4, 2018: City settled on purchase of the Byrd properties located at 7409 and 7411 Baltimore Avenue without the use of eminent domain.

March 13, 2018: City Council approves an Agreement of Sale to purchase property located at 7409 and 7411 Baltimore Avenue

November 25, 2014: City Council votes on location of City Hall - Knox Road location selected

October 28, 2014: Public Forum on location of City Hall – site and cost comparisons of City Hall and Calvert Road sites were presented

CITY HALL is MOving

Effective December 6, 2021 the new mailing address for City Hall is:
City of College Park
7401 Baltimore Avenue, Suite 201
College Park, MD 20740

City phone numbers and office hours (Monday – Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.) remain the same.

FUNDING

Anticipated Total Project Cost: approx. $20,500,000

Funding comes from Capital Project Reserves, State Community Legacy Program, State Bond Bill and the General Fund. There may be further cost reductions through value management without materially affecting the design intent.

COMPLETION DATE

December 2021

ABOUT THE PROJECT

Residents and City elected officials have been discussing the need to improve City Hall for more than 20 years.

As demand for City services has increased, it became clear that the current City Hall (dedicated in 1959) could not provide the service level residents require. City staff had to utilize hallways and corridors as office and storage space, which created an inefficient environment. Because of the previous facility’s constraints, City departments and services have been spread across several different buildings.

In 2014, the City Council narrowed City Hall site selection options to two properties owned by the City: the existing City Hall site on Knox Road and the Calvert Road site (where Department of Public Services currently resides). After receiving significant public comment, the City Council selected the Knox Road location as the site to construct a new City Hall and authorized City staff to retain consultants to move this project forward. The University of Maryland Foundation had recently acquired most of the retail frontage along the east side of Baltimore Avenue between Knox Road and Lehigh Road (adjacent to the City Hall property), and the University expressed strong interest in working with the City to redevelop the entire block.

Three years later, on November 28, the Mayor and City Council authorized the use of negotiation and/or condemnation to acquire the remaining two properties that front Baltimore Avenue within that block to build a new City Hall. This step allows the City to continue to negotiate with the property owners to reach an agreement for the City to purchase their property, but if an agreement cannot be reached, the City will have a court decide the fair market value of the property. While condemnation for a public purpose is not the City’s preferred path, the property owners would be paid the fair value for their property. On June 4, 2018 the City settled on purchase of the two properties without the use of eminent domain.

In July 2018, the City awarded contracts to the City Hall project design team and then in October, community meetings were held for residents to comment and learn more about the project.

In September 2019, in preparation for the construction of the project, City Council meetings were moved to Davis Hall. City staff moved in October to their temporary location at 8400 Baltimore Avenue.

With a modern City Hall, City offices will be consolidated and the City will be better able to serve its residents.

It will include more meeting rooms for our City Boards and Committees (like the Seniors Committee, the Animal Welfare Committee, the Tree and Landscape Board and many more) to effectively meet. The new facility will also provide additional community meeting spaces.

A new City Hall has been a long time in the making and the input and investment that our residents have made is greatly valued. The City is constantly striving to better serve its residents, businesses, and visitors. We want to provide you with the best services and meet your needs today and into the future. The new City Hall will help make our endeavors successful.

Project: City Hall Project

Location

Status

Project Updates

CITY HALL is MOving

FUNDING

COMPLETION DATE

Project Documents

Contacts

ABOUT THE PROJECT

Contracts