Board approves concepts to dispose of two Ridgewood Drive properties, instructs staff to seek council ratification

The Housing and Redevelopment Advisory Board voted Nov. 6 to approve concept dispositions for two properties on Ridgewood Drive and instructed staff to forward the proposals to city council for ratification. The items were 139 North Ridgewood Drive (an accessory lot) proposed by Ken LeBlanc and 231 South Ridgewood Drive (the former Bank of America building) proposed by Marmer Construction.

Board members discussed how developer contributions toward project costs should be documented. Several members said the final agreement should state a dollar amount with a not-to-exceed cap rather than a rolling percentage. Staff responded that the dollar figure shown to the board will be an absolute number, while the underlying calculation may be justified internally by a percentage. One staff member noted prior practice used about a 20% benchmark in similar commercial redevelopment projects and offered an example: a $500,000 project with a $100,000 board commitment would equate to 20%.

Motions approving the conceptual dispositions for both properties were made, seconded and advanced for ratification by the city council. The board also noted that incentive packages and any detailed agreement terms (including precise dollar amounts and caps) will return to the board later for review before final ratification.

No dollar amounts for the contributions or incentive packages were specified at the meeting. Public commenters spoke briefly during both items but did not provide substantive opposition recorded in the transcript.

Actions recorded: the board approved concepts for disposition of 139 North Ridgewood Drive (Ken LeBlanc) and 231 South Ridgewood Drive (Marmer Construction) and directed staff to forward both items to city council for ratification.