City waiting for FEMA approval on library development agreement

The City Council Tuesday night tabled an expected vote to approve a redevelopment agreement with TrueNorth Real Estate LC, an agreement that will move TrueNorth, an insurance and financial services firm, to the city's flood-damaged former library and clear the way for the city's new library to go up at TrueNorth's current site on Fourth Avenue SE across from Greene Square Park.

Both Allan Thoms, the city's interim city manager and Greg Eyerly, the city's flood-recovery director, explained that the city is still awaiting a final approval from the Federal Emergency Management Agency on the property agreement.

Both said they hoped the vote on the redevelopment agreement with TrueNorth could proceed at the council's next meeting, Aug. 24.

The general terms of the agreement have been known since the City Council picked the TrueNorth site for the new library in February and then accepted TrueNorth's offer on the former library in June.

TrueNorth is paying $250,000 for the former library site, which it agrees to redevelop into offices and related uses at a cost to the firm of $7.5-million. In turn, the city agrees to pay $7.5 million for TrueNorth's existing office building and site.

Additionally, TrueNorth will pay the city $10,000 a month in rent to stay in its existing building while the renovation of the former library takes place. That renovation is expected to be complete in September 2011, the agreement states.

The agreement also calls for the city to provide TrueNorth with economic assistance over 10 years to offset the difference in property taxes at its new location versus the property taxes it had been paying at its current site. It is estimated that this property-tax assistance will total $990,000 over 10 years.

As part of the agreement, TrueNorth agrees to retain 120 existing jobs and to add 50 new jobs.

The City Hall-TrueNorth agreement notes that TrueNorth's preference was not to sell and relocate its downtown business. The agreement also states that the property transaction and redevelopment of the former library building are in “the vital and best interests of the city.”

The city's new library is slated to open in late 2012. It's a $45.5-million project including the cost of contents and furnishings.