Council reviews two property lease renewals at West End Hall for chamber and United Way

Easly City staff and councilors reviewed second readings of two lease ordinances covering space at West End Hall (201 South 5th Street) intended for nonprofit tenants.

For Ordinance 202413 staff said the lease amount for the Greater Easly Chamber of Commerce was adjusted from the prior year and that the city increased the chamber’s monthly rent by about 50% for the coming year. Council members said staff met with the chamber director and that the chamber remains a city partner focused on business recruitment and support; staff noted the chamber will assume responsibility for some building maintenance costs (air conditioning repairs and related work) and will pay a share of utilities, reducing the city’s operating expense for the building.

For Ordinance 202414 staff said a prior typo in the United Way lease had left the organization paying a heavily discounted amount (the contract had been calculated as an annual instead of monthly figure). Staff corrected that to a monthly figure and applied a CPI adjustment for 2024, producing a significant rent increase from what United Way paid the prior year. Councilors asked whether staff had performed market-value research for leasing city property; staff said they had not run a full market appraisal but used prior contract amounts, square footage and CPI as the basis for the revised rents and noted the leases treat the tenants as community partners rather than retail lessees.

Councilors raised fiscal stewardship concerns because the city previously budgeted substantial amounts to renovate the building and may not recover the full renovation costs through modest nonprofit rents. Staff responded that the adjustments reflect both the tenants’ capacity and the partnership role those organizations play in downtown economic development.

No vote was recorded in the work session. Staff said the business meeting will contain the ordinances for formal action.