Library board approves lease

Talk about it

The board of the Hudson Area Joint Library on Monday night gave final approval to leasing 20,000 square feet of the Nuclear Management Co. building at the corner of First and Vine streets.

The 7-0 vote sets the ground for the city of Hudson to finalize its purchase of the NMC property. The library plans to move into the former corporate headquarters building in the spring of 2010.

The city had until Wednesday (Dec. 16) to inform Xcel Energy, owner of the building, whether it intended to go ahead with purchase. The city would lose $100,000 in earnest money if it backed out now.

The initial term of the library’s lease is for five years, beginning Jan. 1, 2010. The rental rate during the first year is $120,000, but the library will pay just $5,000 per month for the first three months.

The rent will be adjusted upward in each of the successive years, based on changes in the Consumer Price Index, but no less than 1 percent or more than 5 percent.

The library has been paying $55,000 a year in rent to the city for its current quarters in the Hudson Municipal Building at 911 Fourth St.

Under the new lease agreement, the library will continue to pay rent for the Municipal Building space until it moves out.

The library has the option of renewing the NMC building lease for another five-year term at the end of the first five years.

The agreement also gives the library the option to purchase the property at any time during the lease period.

In addition to the 40,000-square-foot NMC building, the 1.25-acre property holds a 3,500-square-foot office building at the corner of Second and Vine streets – and a 52-vehicle parking lot between the two buildings.

City Council members have talked about splitting off the smaller office building from the rest of the property before the larger building is sold to the library.

The lease agreement says the price for the current entire property would be $2.5 million (what the city will pay for it), plus an additional $125,000 per year for each year that passes from the start of the lease agreement to the purchase.

During the period that the library is leasing the building, the city will pay for the electricity, heat, air conditioning, water and sewer service, and janitorial services.

For more on Monday night's discussion, including a proposal to amend the lease to allow a studio and office for cable access Channel 15, see the December 17 print edition of the Star-Observer.

Tags: local news, hudson library, nmc building, news, lease