Memorandum

City of Lawrence

City Manager’s Office

TO:	David L. Corliss, City Manager
FROM:	Jonathan Douglass, City Clerk/Assistant to the City Manager
DATE:	August 8, 2012
RE:	Lease of Borders Building for Temporary Library Location

Executive summary

Construction of the voter approved renovation and expansion of the Lawrence Public Library is anticipated to begin this winter. Library staff has analyzed the effect of the construction on library operations and recommends moving library operations off site during construction. The Library Board has approved a plan and budget to move operations to the former Borders building at 700 New Hampshire Street. The City Commission is now asked to consider authorizing staff to negotiate and execute a lease agreement with the property owners.

Proposal to move library operations off-site during construction

Construction on the library is anticipated to last 14-18 months, depending on whether the library moves out or continues to operate out of the building under construction. Brad Allen, Director of the Lawrence Public Library, has analyzed whether library services can best be provided on site or off site during the construction. As detailed in the attached memo and press release, reasons to move library operations off site temporarily include:

Reduced construction timetable because contractors won’t have to work around library activities;
Better customer service, as patrons don’t have to navigate through a construction zone within the library;
Fewer disruptions to service, as moving off site only requires two moves while staying on site would require at least eight separate moves within the building;
More parking for patrons, because most of the parking around the current lot will be taken up by construction staging;
Potential for better bids, as contractors won’t have to plan for general public access to a construction site;
It is financially feasible to make the move within the project budget.

On August 2, the Library Board approved a plan to move library operations to the former Borders building and voted to recommend that the City Commission authorize staff to negotiate and execute a lease agreement for the building.

Proposed lease terms

The proposed lease terms are outlined in the attached letter of intent. Major provisions include:

Twenty month lease with options to extend for up to 6 additional months. Construction is anticipated to last 14 months, so the 20 month lease would allow time for move in and move out, as well as some cushion for unexpected delays.
$7.00 per square foot per year lease (approximately 20,000 square feet) for a total of $233,800 for 20 months.
Triple net lease – city would be responsible for property taxes, maintenance, and insurance (the city buys property and casualty coverage and self-insures for liability).

Financing of proposed lease

The Library Director, in consultation with B.A. Green (construction manager) and Gould Evans (architect), has prepared two budgets for comparison: Staying in the current building vs. moving temporarily during construction.

After factoring in the costs of staying in the building (multiple moves, temporary partitions and sidewalks/access, utilities, and additional costs for phased construction; see estimate from B.A. Green) versus the costs of moving out (lease, property taxes, modular buildings, and storage), the overall additional cost to move out is about $69,000, which would be taken from the project contingency.

Next steps

The Library Board has approved plans to move into the former Borders building and recommends City Commission authorization to execute the lease agreement. Gould Evans is preparing a site plan application for submittal to the Planning Office for the location of two modular office structures in the parking lot east of the Borders building. Administrative processing of that site plan, including historic resources review, would take 3-5 weeks. Building permit review would also be necessary.

Tentative construction start dates are November 2012 for the garage and February 2013 for the library building. The library would begin moving into the Borders building in November-December 2012 and that site would open for operations around the beginning of the year.

Action: Authorize staff to negotiate and execute a lease agreement for the former Borders building at 700 New Hampshire Street, for temporary location of the Lawrence Public Library operations during construction at the current library site, if appropriate.