Coral Gables City Hall restoration design efforts are now going to be completed in one continuous phase.
City commissioners voted Tuesday to move forward with one long phase to start seeing renovation results at City Hall.
Divided into two subphases, the first part includes building assessment, recommendations report, schematic drawings, and a detailed cost estimate. The second step includes design development drawings, construction documents, project specifications, and permitting of all construction documents and construction administration.
City staff have completed negotiations with RJ Heisenbottle Architects, the firm that is working in the first half of the phase. The second half will be negotiated once the full extent of the restoration work is established, explained Peter Iglesias, Coral Gables’ city manager.
On June 12, Mr. Iglesias said he presented the issue to the city’s Historic Preservation Board and received a recommendation to move forward with the replacement of all the windows at City Hall and the Annex Building with structural steel, impact glass, and pressure resistance.
City staff is currently negotiating Hope Windows’ latest cost proposal, based on the mockup, currently on display at City Hall, Mr. Iglesias said. The cost submitted is $3.8 million, which includes installation for all windows and doors at City Hall and the Annex Building.
Delivery time is about 30 to 34 weeks after shop drawings are approved, and once the final price is negotiated and approved, the city will authorize Hope Windows to proceed with the Annex Building scope, as all the windows and doors have been structurally reinforced, he said.
The city manager also presented a tentative timeline for each sub-phase at City Hall.
He’s projecting the city would have secured construction permits by June 2026, with construction commencement closer to July 2026, while the duration of construction would take about 18 months, and the whole project would be completed by December 2027.
The City Hall building at 405 Biltmore Way is a historic landmark completed in 1928, just years after the city was founded and just after the 1926 real estate collapse. The three-story building is in the Mediterranean Style that city founder George Merrick sought in the new planned community.
The building has a red-tiled roof distinguished by a Corinthian Colonnade and central three-stage clock tower. It was completed in just over a year. Its restoration, on the other hand, has been debated for a decade. The building was registered on the US National Register of historic places in 1974.
Recent structural assessments have revealed the need for additional structural support, leading to a relocation of city departments housed within the building.
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