LONDON, ONT. -- The COVID-19 pandemic has civic administration reconsidering its requirements in a new city hall building, which could take some of the financial burden off London taxpayers.

Instead of spending money on consulting and architectural fees, a new report to city council recommends reevaluating the office space needs of the municipality, and pursuing a future partnership with a private developer.

“It looks like $13 million (saved) already, and it looks like there could be a lot more,” says Councillor Josh Morgan.

On March 2, city council approved the 2020-2023 Budget including $13 million for consulting fees plus an estimated $125.5 million in 2024 for construction.

Just two weeks later, however, the pandemic changed how city hall delivers municipal services.

Many employees continue to work from home for at least part of the week, and fewer Londoners are seeking municipal services in-person.

The report to council’s Strategic Priorities and Policy Committee recommends investigating a partnership with a private developer to construct a new city hall within a multi-use building.

“There may not be a need to build a new city hall,” explains Councillor Morgan. “Instead, partner with a private sector developer to do a ‘combination building’ where you have civic space and some other use like residential.”

Commercial real estate agent and former city councillor Roger Caranci is pleased to see city hall rethinking its original plan.

“They should take a more focussed look at how they’ve been doing things during the pandemic, and how they might save some money possibly building a smaller place.” says Caranci.

City Treasurer Anna Lisa Barbon intends to update the 2017 Master Accomodation Plan (MAP) by summer, taking into account what’s been learned during the pandemic.

“Build more efficient space in order to have a lower cost of our footprint, that would ultimately result in some savings that would be passed along to the taxpayer,” explains Barbon.

“It’s promising what we are seeing in the report right now. I think it makes sense given our new realities,” adds Councillor Mo Salih, who suggested a review of the (MAP) along with Councillor Morgan.

The intention of a public-private partnership is to build the new city hall either on the existing property, which includes Reg Cooper Square and Centennial Hall, or at some other location in the core.

During multi-year budget deliberations, Barbon advised council that building a new city hall will save money in the long run.

Maintenance costs are steadily increasing at 300 Dufferin, and the city would require less leased office space downtown.

Once municipal office space needs are revised a public-private partnership could be tendered next fall.

“Opening this up to a competitive process will open up some innovation in the way we approach this,” adds Morgan.

Barbon admits those are just the first steps to building a new city hall.

“Our expectation is that it is four to five years by the time the process would be completed.”

London’s current city hall opened in 1971.

The recommendations will be considered by the council committee on Tuesday.