Dearborn City Council Approves Negotiations for Sale of City Hall

After more than a year of planning, the Dearborn City Council took a giant leap forward with a proposal to sell city hall to the nonprofit Artspace.

The council voted 5-1 on Tuesday, with Councilman Brian O'Donnell absent, to allow Mayor John B. O’Reilly, Jr. to execute a purchase agreement, covenant deed and necessary closing documents for the the building complex, pending review by the city’s attorney.

Council President Thomas Tafelski was the lone dissenting vote on the agenda item.

With the approval, the city is expected to sell the building, located at 13615 Michigan Ave., for $1.65 million, the price agreed upon by a mutually hired appraiser. The sale price includes a $50,000 nonrefundable down payment, and the building would be sold “as is."

The targeted closing date is June 30, 2014. City operations will move to the former ADP office building, located near the Henry Ford Centennial Library at 16901 Michigan Ave. The city bought the building in 2012 for $3.2 million and will rename it the Dearborn Administrative Center.

Prior to the vote, several residents voiced concerns about the sale of city hall.

Kristyn Taylor, a candidate for Dearborn City Council, said she sent out a survey to Dearborn residents in order to gauge public reception of the Dearborn Administrative Center.

"Surveys are not official, but I think it's important that you hear the voices of the residents based on this survey," she said. 

Taylor said she received 170 completed surveys. Of those returned, 68 percent said they would not support the move to city hall.

Councilman David Bazzy said that while he appreciates the feedback, he feels the survey does not adequately reflect the opinion of the community.

"I don't think there were details in the survey, because right now, the council doesn't even have all the details of the true savings for the cost to operate the new building," Bazzy said. "The reality is city government is not about a building. City government is about people and about services. I don't care if we're operating in the basement next door if we could keep pools open, or bring services to a level the population desired.

"The job of government is to be more efficient across the board and that's what we're trying to do here."

Dearborn Mayor John B. O'Reilly, Jr. said Tuesday's vote will allow Artspace to move forward with its application to the Michigan State Housing Development Authority (MSHDA) on Aug. 15. Artspace is applying for approximately $17 million in grants to renovate the current city hall and add 45 low income apartments for area artists. Other plans include studio spaces, a cafe in the building's concourse, and a performance/concert area.

"Tonight's decision is simply to get Artspace in the position to apply for state and federal money to make the project work," O'Reilly said. "If Artspace does not receive the money, this project will not move forward."

Stephen Dobkowski, Jr., another candidate for city council, said he is frustrated that the city is spending more money on buildings when downtown Dearborn has an abundance of vacant property.

"Dearborn as a community is at a crossroads. It's vey similar to Detroit for the past 25 years, where the city leadership has spent their money in downtown projects, supporting and subsidizing office buildings into lofts and ignoring safety in neighborhoods," he told the council. "I have not met one person in Dearborn who supports this project.

"Politically it's suicide if you vote for this. You are falling into a trap that has always been done for the past 30 years in the city, and I'm warning you people are not happy with this."

Resident Lee Jacobson asked the council to hold a public meeting at the ADP building to clear up any misconceptions among the public, however the council said it is not feasible to allow the public into the building until its renovated and occupiable. 

"I think you would answer a lot of people's questions if you would show people your plans for the ADP building," Jacobson said.

Councilman Bob Abraham said the council has held multiple public hearings, meetings, and discussion sessions on the project prior to Tuesday's vote.

"I resent people coming up here and implying that we're out of touch with the community," Abraham said. "Everything we've been doing in recent years has focused on fiscal responsibility. The fact of the matter is, the way we deliver services has to be different. We have to change with the times. The responsibility of the city council is to have a vision for the next generation.

"What we have here is two buildings tied together by a subterranean corridor. It's not a conducive environment to operate the way we should. Artspace has the opportunity to come in and revitalize this building and bring businesses back to the community. We can stay here, but every dollar we take out of the general fund to renovate city hall is one less dollar for police, the pools, parks, the library and countless city services."

O'Reilly said while the longterm operative savings for the Dearborn Administrative Center is not known yet, officials project $410,000 in savings annually based on current operating conditions at city hall.

"The renovation of the ADP building will allow us to be more efficient in our operations," O'Reilly said. "We want to look at our long-term future and make sure that Dearborn is strong and healthy 20 years from now, no matter what else is going on around us."