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Council seeks owner's‑representative consultant to oversee Center for Arts and Innovation concerns; amphitheater redesign not a deal‑breaker
Summary
Following a lengthy discussion about landlord plans for the Center for Arts and Innovation, the council agreed there is general consensus to hire an owner's‑representative consultant (construction, traffic, performing‑arts expertise) to advise on parking, circulation and cost estimates and to help protect the city’s reservation of rights during IDA review; several members said the proposed amphitheater redesign is not a deal‑breaker.
City Manager Brown and council members spent significant time on Sept. 24 discussing the Center for Arts and Innovation, the landlord plans submitted by the center and whether the city should hire an owner's‑representative consultant to advise the CRA and council during upcoming IDA review and landlord‑plan approvals.
Brown said the council needs clarity on the consultant’s scope — recommending someone with construction management, circulation/traffic and performing‑arts‑facility experience — and warned that if the consultant is asked to evaluate certain items (updated business plan or construction estimates), staff could not produce a substantive evaluation by the Oct. 21/Oct. 7 timelines. Several council members said a consultant should act as a long‑term partner, not just a short review, and could help the city evaluate parking, circulation, underground parking feasibility and construction budgets.
Council polled members on the amphitheater design question and a majority said the redesign proposed in landlord plans was not a deal‑breaker; members emphasized the parties should preserve reservation‑of‑rights language so material changes proposed during the IDA process would return to the CRA as landlord for further review. City attorney Mr. Koehler confirmed the preconstruction development agreement contemplates returning to the council/CRA if material modifications occur during the IDA process and agreed to provide a written opinion on specific waiver questions.
Council asked staff to seek a consultant (owner’s representative) and report back on progress at the Oct. 7 meeting and to consider whether a narrow amendment is necessary to preserve rights pending further information.
