County plans Brookins tenant program and a property-management position funded by tenant rents

Facilities staff briefed the Facilities Committee on plans to make the county-owned Brookins building self-sustaining through tenant rents and to create a county-funded property-manager position to administer leases and building services.

Staff said RPC (a tenant) currently occupies one pod and is pursuing additional space, including Pod 400 (the pod with the gym) and adjacent offices. RPC has requested a long lease (staff said RPC is seeking a 10-year lease) because it expects to invest in renovations. Staff noted the gym is currently leased to a local basketball club with exclusive use under an existing lease. Some tenants have requested lease clauses allowing cancellation if a grant that funds a tenant’s program is canceled; staff said commercial landlords typically will not accept that risk, which makes the county building attractive for certain grant-funded programs.

Facilities staff said they have calculated a “rock-bottom” square-foot price that covers utilities, custodial service, an on-site maintenance person, and a capital contribution that would send roughly $6 per square foot to a Brookins capital fund to cover future capital projects. Staff plan to create a separate Brookins Fund for transparency and to direct RPC rent and other tenant income into that fund rather than the general fund.

To manage the building, staff proposed a new position (described in the meeting as the JEC-graded job) that would be a county employee responsible for tenant relations, lease management, and first-response maintenance. Staff said the job would be funded from Brookins Fund revenues; if revenues decline or the building vacates, the position would be contingent on funding and could be eliminated. Staff told the committee they have prospective tenants and a small tenant in place as of August 1 and that market rates in Champaign–Urbana remain above their proposed rents, so they are not concerned about attracting tenants. Staff said they will ask that RPC rental income be redirected to the Brookins Fund in the 2026 budget and expect to post the new property-manager position once rent revenue begins to flow.

Committee members expressed support but asked for guardrails; one member recommended that any transfer of general-fund money into Brookins should require a full-board vote. Staff said they plan to draft budget resolution language to that effect and will bring more detailed square-footage and revenue spreadsheets to the next meeting.