At its Sept. 22 meeting, the Merriam City Council approved a resolution authorizing the sale and conveyance of the Merriam Grand Station commercial project and a formal release of city leasehold interests tied to the city's 2023 industrial revenue bond issuance.

"So this is actually a good thing. This is we're gonna close these IRBs out at the restaurant retail actually before the last retail or restaurant is open," Mr. Engel told the council while describing the transaction and the required termination of the city's base lease and lease agreement once bond obligations have been satisfied. He said the action is necessary to release the city's interest after the bonds have been paid or the developer's lease obligations have been performed.

According to staff, the first series of the industrial revenue bonds—issued in 2023 to enable sales-tax exemptions for construction materials, equipment and furnishings—was in an amount not to exceed $6,750,000 and covered the restaurant and retail buildings and associated surface parking and civic activity space. Staff told the council the restaurant/retail portion is completing construction ahead of the RDA deadline and that Shake Shack will open this week.

The motion to approve the resolution was moved during the meeting and seconded by Miss Shandridge. A roll-call vote recorded unanimous approval, "Motion passes 8 0."

Why it matters: industrial revenue bonds and related lease structures are common municipal tools to allow developers to receive sales-tax exemptions during construction. Approving the release of leases signals the project has reached contract milestones allowing the city to relinquish its leasehold interest for the covered buildings.

Next steps: staff will execute the release of leases and complete related closing steps described in the resolution; council action concluded the municipal authorization required at this stage.