West Lake Hills to buy property on Bee Cave Road for new municipal complex

West Lake Hills’ new bond-funded municipal complex will boast a new location after the City Council voted unanimously Wednesday to authorize the purchase of the Faith Bible Church on Bee Cave Road for the project.

Mayor Linda Anthony said city officials had discussed other sites for City Hall in the past and that very few options exist that would meet the city’s needs — and previous sites that did fit the bill were not available. With the passage of the bond in November, which allocated $13.2 toward building a new municipal complex, Anthony said the city staff took inventory to see if any of the desirable locations that had been unavailable had become an option. It turns out, one had.

The church, at 4010 Bee Cave Road, right across from Eanes Elementary School, sits on about three acre of flat land that suits the city’s needs perfectly, Anthony said.

“This would give us a chance to really build a community center that this community has said over the years that it wants. This is an investment in the city's future,” she said. “It gives the police an opportunity to have a presence on Bee Cave Road, direct access to Bee Cave Road. There are so many pluses to this as the location of a new City Hall, that I think we’d be remiss not to take the opportunity.”

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The site used to belong to the Westbank Bible Church and was gifted to Faith Bible Church last year. The Faith Bible Church community decided to sell the site to the city.

Anthony said the site is more expensive than she would ideally want to pay, but that the city will save money by not having to rent out office space during construction and on construction costs.

“Real estate prices are only going up and up and up,” she said. “All told, I think we'll save conservatively $2.5 million dollars, just on lease and building costs. ... Then there's just the incalculable advantage of being on Bee Cave, in the heart of West Lake Hills, having the connectivity that Bee Cave Road provides with the sidewalks, the bike lanes, being in the heart of the city. I just think this is a very rare opportunity that I don't want us to look back in five years, 10 years and say, ‘Why didn't we do this?’”

The City Council authorized the mayor to execute an agreement to purchase the property for up to $6.25 million, the asking price. Anthony said the current City Hall building was recently appraised at $3 million and selling it will help cover the cost. She also pointed out that the city owns property at 110 Westlake Drive, which is adjacent to the church lot, and which could be partially or fully sold to help cover the costs of this purchase.

Council Member Darin Walker said that from his experience in real estate, the site is a great opportunity for the city, one that will only get more expensive in the future.

“We've spent a ton of time over the last couple of years evaluating other sites, there's very few on Bee Cave Road for us that would even be a fit,” he said. “Our market is changing so rapidly that if we don't take advantage of this opportunity there may not be another one that comes along. I’ll say that while it’s more than I would like to see us pay, I think this is a big investment in our future.”

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Council Member Beth South said one benefit of the new site is how it would serve as a community gathering place for residents.

“This came exactly at the right time exactly when we needed it,” she said. “There's so many benefits beyond what we're looking at right now to the community. I think the location is going to provide a much better place for the community for West Lake Hills. We can have more of an identity as a small city. I think it's going to give everybody a lot of pride in the city.”

Anthony said the next step is to meet with architects and start to adapt plans for the new site.

Anthony also swore in a new police officer, Erika DeVaun, at Wednesday’s meeting. DeVaun recently graduated from the academy and was joined at the ceremony by members of her family.

The council also recognized the promotion of police officers Robert Allensworth, Jared Mathis and Aaron Ozuna to the rank of corporal.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: West Lake Hills to purchase property on Bee Cave Road for new city hall