Bradenton is getting ready to box up City Hall and move it off the riverfront, at least for a while, as a major downtown redevelopment inches closer to reality. City officials are treating the relocation as a temporary shuffle, eyeing short-term leases while a new mixed-use project for the prized waterfront site is hammered out.
During a recent City Council workshop, City Administrator Rob Perry said the city is looking at leasing roughly one and a half floors in the Manatee County Administration Building on Manatee Avenue West to keep staff and public services running during construction. Perry described the potential lease rates as "very, very economically favorable" and said the city will probably need to clear out of the Old Main Street building in early 2027, according to the Bradenton Herald.
FOX 13 Tampa Bay reported that the land under City Hall went under contract about two years ago, and city leaders now think they have a workable temporary home lined up as the sale moves toward closing. The station highlighted council talk about timing, logistics and how to keep services accessible while options are slowly narrowed down.
Sale Details And The Vias Project
The City Council has signed on with a development team proposing a project called The Vias, which would turn the roughly four-acre City Hall site into a mix of residential units, a hotel, retail space and a parking garage. The buyer agreed to pay $14.1 million for the property, WUSF reported. The deal is not expected to close until 2026, giving the city a bit of breathing room to organize its move without cutting off core services.
Developer Offers A Downtown Solution
Developers have also pitched a way to keep City Hall in the downtown mix. One option on the table is a roughly 45,000-square-foot government building on Tenth Street West, across from the Bishop Museum of Science and Nature. City leaders said that staying put in the downtown area could prove more cost effective than moving offsite and showed cautious interest in the idea during a December workshop, per the Bradenton Herald.
Timeline And What Residents Should Expect
Officials say any move will be carefully phased to match the developer's schedule so that city services remain available and disruptions are kept to a minimum. The council has been talking about the sale and relocation plans since 2022, and staff are now working on specific recommendations and timelines that are expected to surface in the coming weeks, according to WUSF.
Council members say they want to keep City Hall easy to reach and to maintain downtown's energy as the waterfront parcel is transformed. Residents can expect a string of upcoming agenda items that will sort out lease terms, the exact timing of the move and whether Bradenton ultimately commits to a new permanent City Hall in the heart of downtown.
