City council approves three-year lease with Human Rights Education Institute at historic Fort grounds building

The Coeur d'Alene City Council voted to approve a three-year lease allowing the Human Rights Education Institute (HREI) to remain in the historic Battery Railway Station at 414 West Fort Grounds Drive.

City attorney Randy (staff) told the council the proposed lease term is three years with one automatic three-year renewal. For the first 12 months HREI will pay utilities as its rent; for the remaining two years of the initial term HREI will pay $500 per month plus utilities; during any renewal the rent would be $1,000 per month plus utilities. The lease preserves HREI’s right to make capital improvements that may be credited against rent but requires the city’s written consent and that the work qualify as capital improvements. The lease also explicitly prohibits partisan political activity on the premises.

Why this matters: the building sits on lots subject to federal land-patent restrictions and Bureau of Land Management master-plan conditions that limit city uses; those restrictions narrow alternative uses the city could reasonably pursue. Council members framed the decision as both a business choice and a community service question, balancing the city’s fiduciary responsibilities against HREI’s long presence and community role.

Council and staff said the new lease is intended to provide a fresh start. Randy described the city’s long transactional history with the building and said the new lease was negotiated to reflect HREI’s limited, donation- and grant-based operating income and the constraints on the property. HREI representative Jeanette Lester asked council to approve the lease and cited the organization’s regional programming and volunteer base, saying, “On behalf of the board and 35 volunteers that share in our mission, we respectfully request the approval of our new lease and help HREI maintain its stronghold as a light of hope to those that need it.”

Council members pressed staff on unpaid rent and on documentation of past capital improvements. Staff told the council there had been prior credits approved for documented capital improvements (a $140,000 figure presented earlier in staff materials) and more recent disputed lists of additional work; staff said records after 2017 are incomplete and that some listed items may not qualify as capital improvements under the prior lease’s terms. HREI’s leaders said they would provide additional documentation for expenses since 2017, including a roof project and other maintenance expenses.

Several council members urged that staff study the building’s “highest and best use.” The approved motion directed staff to seek alternative uses while granting HREI the three-year term to provide stability. Council debate included proposals for shorter review periods (one year, 18 months) before settling on the three-year approval with staff follow-up.

Vote and immediate outcome: the motion to approve the lease as presented passed by council vote (4–3). The council recorded Miller: yes; Evans: yes; Gabriel: yes; Gookin: no; English: no; Wood: no; Mayor MacEvers cast the deciding vote in favor. The lease terms described above will take effect upon execution as authorized by the council.

What’s next: staff was directed to examine alternative city uses for the building and to report back; HREI said it will provide additional documentation of improvements since 2017. The council did not seek to collect prior unpaid rent as part of the approved lease, instead choosing a negotiated reset of terms.