But new features and old bugs in the Pier One building are increasing the cost of the project by $50 million, Tanyan Farley with the city’s project manager Athenian Group, told the council.

Instead of the original 900 employees, the new city hall will house 1,600 employees, which will cost an additional $7,954,882 to outfit the additional space.

Fort Worth also needs to spend $12,031,745 to replace the elevator, fix the lights, and replace some of the staircases and bathrooms, Farley said.

Some of the lights on some of the floors don’t shut off, so the city needs to replace the building’s light control system, he said.

Despite the additional cost, Farley argued it’s better to fix these problems now instead of having to work around staff moving into the building later.

The biggest cost increase is from inflation.

The city estimates it will need to spend an additional $13 million due to increasing costs of materials and labor.

The new estimated total cost of the project is a little over $230 million. That’s far less, however, than the cost of building from scratch, Farley said.

He estimated it would cost around $391 million to build a brand new tower and council chamber including the cost of the land, parking and security features.

Fort Worth may be able to recoup some of its costs through selling off old buildings.

The city council approved the $18 million sale of the central library building to Dallas-based Dart Interests in December 2022.

Fort Worth plans to sell nine other buildings, which it estimates will net the city $19.4 million.

The earliest employees could start moving into the Pier One building would be the end of this year with the new city council chamber complete sometime in late 2024.