Stories indexed with the term ‘lease’

DDA to Work on Lease to Greyhound

Ann Arbor’s Greyhound bus station will be finding a temporary home at the Fourth & William parking structure in downtown Ann Arbor, when it’s forced to vacate its current facilities on Huron Street between Ashley and Main. That location will become a hotel when First Martin Corp. gets approval for a hotel project it plans to build there.

The two-year relocation will be made possible through a lease to be worked out with the Ann Arbor Downtown Development Authority. The DDA board authorized the signing of a lease at its May 7, 2014 meeting.

The lease would cost Greyhound $1,525 a month, which works out to $36,600 for the two-year period. Buses would not pull into the structure, but would stage on … [Full Story]

Ann Arbor District Library Gets Clean Audit

Ann Arbor District Library board meeting (Dec. 16, 2013): The board’s main action item was to accept the 2012-13 audit, which was briefly reviewed by Dave Fisher of the accounting firm Rehmann. It was a clean report, he said.

Dave Fisher, Rehmann, audit, Ann Arbor District Library, The Ann Arbor Chronicle

Dave Fisher of the accounting firm Rehmann presented the AADL 2012-13 audit. (Photos by the writer.)

There was no discussion among board members on that item, though Fisher noted the audit had been discussed at the board’s budget and finance committee in November.

Also approved was a one-year lease extension with Green Road Associates for storage of newspaper archives. The library has leased the Plymouth Park facility – an office park owned by First Martin Corp. on Green Road, north of Plymouth – since January 2010. That’s when AADL took possession of the Ann Arbor News archives, a few months after the owners of that publication decided to cease operations. The library is digitizing the Ann Arbor News archives, along with material from other local newspapers, as part of a project called Old News.

Much of the meeting focused on two staff presentations: A report on library statistics for November in five categories (collections, users, visits, usage and participation); and an update on the Washtenaw Library for the Blind and Physically Disabled (WLBPD).

One person, Donald Salberg, addressed the board during public commentary. Part of his remarks focused on the board’s decision – at its Nov. 11, 2013 meeting – to approve a tax-sharing agreement with Pittsfield Township and the State Street corridor improvement authority. He told trustees that they hadn’t identified any real benefit that the CIA would bring to the library.

At the end of the meeting, board president Prue Rosenthal read a statement that defended the board’s decision to participate in the CIA, outlining its benefits to the library and the broader community. She said that although the board vote had not been unanimous, she thought that all trustees were comfortable that the decision was made with a great deal of care. [Full Story]

Library Extends Lease for Archives Storage

At its Dec. 16, 2013 meeting, the Ann Arbor District Library board voted unanimously to approve a one-year lease extension with Green Road Associates for storage of newspaper archives. The annual rate of $38,500 is for a period beginning Jan. 1, 2014.

The library has leased the Plymouth Park facility – an office park owned by First Martin Corp. on Green Road, north of Plymouth – since January 2010. That’s when AADL took possession of the Ann Arbor News archives, a few months after the owners of that publication decided to cease operations. The original lease was for a two-year period at $38,000 annually. In November 2011, the board approved a one-year extension, also at the $38,000 annual rate. No … [Full Story]

Leases OK’d for Head Start, County Offices

The Washtenaw County board of commissioners took action on two leases at its Aug. 7, 2013 meeting.

The board approved the 10-year lease of a county-owned Head Start building at 1661 Leforge Ave. in Ypsilanti to the Washtenaw Intermediate School District. [.pdf of lease agreement] The WISD is taking over management of the Head Start program from the county, which has administered it for over four decades. After considerable debate, the board made the decision in late 2011 to relinquish the Head Start program.

The county took out bonds to pay for the construction of the $2.29 million Head Start facility in 2002. Ten years remain on the bond repayment for a total of $1.66 million.

WISD will begin making payments … [Full Story]

AAPS Renews Freeman School Lease

Renewal of a lease of Freeman School to Go Like the Wind Montessori School from the Ann Arbor Public Schools has been approved. AAPS board approval came at its May 8, 2013 meeting. The district has leased the building to Go Like the Wind since 1987. It’s located at 3540 Dixboro Lane.

The new three-year lease with one two-year renewal option will begin on July 1, 2014. The new proposed rate is $300,862, with a 3% increase each year. Over a five-year lease period, the district will receive over $1.5 million in rent.

Randy Trent, AAPS executive director of physical properties, noted that the tenants have paid for renovations over the past 10 years, while the district pays for maintenance.

As a school building, Trent noted, … [Full Story]

AADL Renews Lease for Library Bookstore

A resolution to extend the Ann Arbor District Library’s space-use agreement with the nonprofit Friends of the Ann Arbor District Library for one year was unanimously approved at the AADL board’s May 6, 2013 meeting.

Friends of AADL operates a used bookstore in the lower level of AADL’s downtown branch at 343 S. Fifth Ave. Proceeds of the store – about $90,000 annually – are given to the library. [.pdf of current FAADL space-use agreement]

This brief was filed from the fourth-floor conference room of the downtown library at 343 S. Fifth. A more detailed report will follow: [link]

Freeman Lease Renewal Moves Ahead

At its April 24, 2013 meeting, the Ann Arbor Public Schools board of education was briefed on a recommendation to renew the district’s lease of Freeman School to Go Like the Wind Montessori School. The district has leased the building to Go Like the Wind since 1987. It’s located at 3540 Dixboro Lane.

If approved, the new three-year lease with one two-year renewal option would begin on July 1, 2014. The new proposed rate is $300,862, with a 3% increase each year. Over a five-year lease period, the district will receive over $1.5 million in rent.

Randy Trent, AAPS executive director of physical properties, recognized that the tenants have paid for renovations over the past 10 years, while the district pays for … [Full Story]

Ann Arbor Flies with Solo Aviation at Airport

Solo Aviation Inc. will have continued use through at least June 30, 2015 of office and terminal ramp space at the Ann Arbor municipal airport – for aviation business operations. The lease, approved by the Ann Arbor city council at its Oct. 15, 2012 meeting, provides for an additional three-year extension.

The terms of the lease stipulate $18.892 per square foot. According to the staff memo accompanying the resolution, Solo Aviation is a fixed-based operator offering flight instruction, discovery flights, fueling, aircraft maintenance and service. Solo employs 30 people at the Ann Arbor municipal airport facility.

This brief was filed from the city council’s chambers on the second floor of city hall located at 301 E. Huron. A more detailed report … [Full Story]

DDA Renews Leases for First Martin Parking

At its June 6, 2012 meeting, the Ann Arbor Downtown Development Authority board voted unanimously to renew lease agreements for two surface parking lots in downtown Ann Arbor. One lot is known as the Brown Block, bounded by Huron, Ashley, Liberty Washington and First streets. The other is located on the southeast corner of Huron Street and South Fifth Avenue. The new leases extend for a period of three years.

The DDA manages the two lots as part of Ann Arbor’s public parking system. The leases, which have been in place for several years, are between the DDA and two limited liability companies owned by local real estate development firm First Martin Corp. Those two companies are Huron Ashley LLC … [Full Story]

Mammoth Molars, Other Realia at the AADL

Ann Arbor District Library board meeting (Jan. 16, 2012): A Michigan Radio report last month had indicated that the Ann Arbor library might start loaning out bicycles. AADL director Josie Parker assured the board that “we don’t circulate bicycles!” but said she wanted trustees to learn more about the kinds of realia collections that the library does circulate.

Celeste Choate

Celeste Choate, AADL associate director of services, collections and access, holds up a replica of a fossilized wooly mammoth tooth and a wooly mammoth model – items that are included in Science to Go kits available from the AADL. Choate was giving a presentation on the library's realia collections. (Photos by the writer.)

Among the most popular is AADL’s art print collection, which includes work by local artists, according to Celeste Choate, AADL associate director of services, collections and access. Meter readers to gauge the energy efficiency of home appliances and electronics are also popular.

Science to Go kits are the newest addition to AADL’s realia collection. Each kit focuses on a theme – prehistoric mammals, for example – and contains materials that include books, DVDs, Fandex educational cards, and objects like a replica of a fossilized wooly mammoth molar. The kits have only been available for about a month, but are all checked out, each with a long wait list. The realia collections are listed in “Unusual Stuff to Borrow” on AADL’s website.

Other agenda items for Monday’s meeting were less show and more tell. The board re-elected its current slate of officers for another year, with president Margaret Leary noting that the board faces several important decisions in the coming year – she indicated that continuity of leadership would help the board in that context. Though she did not mention it explicitly, Leary likely was alluding to plans discussed by the board in November to restart the process for determining the future of the AADL’s downtown location.

In a formal address at the start of Monday’s meeting, Leary reviewed the library’s accomplishments for 2011. Among other things, she mentioned the board’s decision to keep its millage rate down, while still balancing its budget. AADL’s millage rate for the current fiscal year is 1.55 mills – below the 1.92 mills that the district is authorized to levy. However, she cautioned that if the state eliminates the personal property tax and no replacement funding is found, the library would lose about $600,000 annually in revenues out of a $12 million budget.

Later in the meeting, the board was briefed by Eli Neiburger, AADL’s associate director of IT and product development, on a draft terms-of-use policy for the library’s website. The decision to develop the policy was driven in large part because of issues related to the library’s digitization of the former Ann Arbor News archives – AADL will be putting a lot of material online for which it doesn’t hold the copyright. The board is expected to vote on the policy at its Feb. 20 meeting.

Also at Monday’s meeting, the board voted to approve a two-year lease renewal with Westgate Enterprises LLC for the location of AADL’s branch at the Westgate Shopping Center, at Jackson and South Maple roads. The annual lease rate is $82,260, beginning Feb. 1. [Full Story]

AADL Renews Lease for Westgate Branch

At its Jan. 16, 2012 meeting, the Ann Arbor District Library board approved a two-year lease renewal with Westgate Enterprises LLC for the location of AADL’s branch at the Westgate Shopping Center, at Jackson and South Maple roads. The annual lease rate is $82,260, beginning Feb. 1. The new agreement includes two one-year renewal options. Known as the West Branch, the 5,900-square-foot library branch has been open there since 1977. It’s the only branch of AADL that operates in leased space.

This brief was filed from the fourth-floor boardroom of the downtown library at 343 S. Fifth Ave. A more detailed report will follow: [link]

City, DDA Continue to Talk Parking, Taxes

Ann Arbor Downtown Development Authority board meeting (April 6, 2011): Since June 2010, the city of Ann Arbor and the Ann Arbor DDA have been negotiating a new contract under which the DDA would continue to operate the city’s public parking system.

While the city and the DDA have achieved much agreement on the non-monetary details of the arrangement, Wednesday’s board meeting left the financial piece still unclear.

Keith Orr DDA Ann Arbor

Keith Orr pores over the figures under various scenarios for the new contract under which the DDA would operate the public parking system. (Photos by the writer.)

The board discussion included a focus on the contrast between the combined fund reserve of the DDA – which includes those funds it collects as a tax-increment finance authority – and the reserves of just the public parking fund. Sandi Smith, who’s a DDA board member and an Ann Arbor city councilmember, stressed throughout the conversation that it’s not just the overall fund balance, but the public parking fund balance itself that needs to be monitored.

Last week, the board had come to a consensus that the public parking system could absorb a payment to the city equal to 16% of gross parking revenues in every year of a 10-year contract, which represented a revision upward from its previous position of 14% in the first two years, followed by 15% in subsequent years.

After lengthy back-and-forth, the only consensus reached by DDA board members was that they were not prepared to revise their position upward (again) to meet the city’s request that the city be paid 16% of the public parking gross revenues in the first two years of the contract, but 17.5% in remaining years. Mayor John Hieftje, who serves on the DDA board, was the lone voice of support for that position.

The mayor also found himself somewhat isolated on another issue in front of the board at its Wednesday meeting – the only action item on the agenda. The board voted to sign a new, more favorable lease agreement for its roughly 3,000 feet of office space at 150 S. Fifth Ave. for a term of five years.

Although the mayor voted with the rest of the board in authorizing the lease agreement, he had announced at the city council’s Monday, April 4 meeting that he would be asking his fellow DDA members to consider moving into space that’s currently being renovated in the city hall building. Two days later, at Wednesday’s DDA board meeting, the mayor appeared to understand that there was little enthusiasm on the board for the move, based partly on the fact that it would cost the DDA more in the short term.

At the meeting, the board also heard its usual range of reports and communications, including an update from DTE on the addition of a new substation near the Broadway bridge, to meet increased demand for electricity. [Full Story]

DDA Renews Lease of Office Space

At its April 6, 2011 meeting, the Ann Arbor Downtown Development Authority board authorized signing a new five-year lease for its office space at 150 S. Fifth Ave.

Under terms of its current lease, which expires on June 30, 2011, the DDA pays $26 per square foot for 3,189 square feet of office space. Under terms of the new lease, the DDA would pay $16.75 per square foot in the first year of the five-year deal, for a total of $53,415. After the first year, the amount would increase to $17.25, $18, $18.75 and $19.50 per square foot.

The decision to renew the lease came in the context of mayor John Hieftje’s announcement at the April 4 city council meeting that he’d be inviting the DDA board to consider moving the DDA offices to newly renovated space in the city hall building. But at the Wednesday DDA board meeting, he indicated that he’d discussed the lease with DDA board member Roger Hewitt and understood that securing just a one-year renewal of the lease would mean agreeing to the less favorable terms of the current lease. Hieftje voted for the five-year lease extension, along with the rest of the board.

This brief was filed from DDA offices at 150 S. Fifth Ave. A more detailed report of the board meeting will follow: [link]
[Full Story]