A bill for an ordinance approving a proposed Amendatory Lease Agreement between the City and County of Denver and the Colorado Symphony Association, for offices used by the Colorado Symphony Association. (FINANCE & SERVICES) Extends a lease agreement with the Colorado Symphony Association by fifteen months to 12-31-16 to occupy 1245 Champa Street and raises rent from one dollar annually to $5,000 per month plus reimbursement of operating expenses (FINAN-201311017-01). The last regularly scheduled Council meeting within the 30-day review period is on 8-15. The Committee approved filing this bill at its meeting on 7-28-15.
All right. We will put on the floor and then we'll go to comments. And I'll start with you, Councilman Flint and Councilwoman Candace. Will you please have 522 audio published? Yes, Mr. President, I move that council bill 522 be ordered published. It has been moved. We'll need a second. Who got the second? Thank you. Councilman Flynn, if you want to do a motion to hold in committee and then I'll go to comments after that, if that's the direction I want to go. Go right ahead. Thank you, Mr. President. I move the council bill five two to be held in committee to Monday, August 24th, 2015. That has been moved and seconded now. Time for comments, Councilman Flynn. Thank you, Mr. President. I did not have the advantage of since I'm not on finance and services to be at the meeting where this was vetted at first. But I believe there's still some questions unanswered in my mind. Primarily, the question is why we are asking the Colorado Symphony, which is one of our struggling institutions, to go from paying essentially no rent to a dollar a year to $5,000 a month. When we do expect this building to be reimagined and perhaps repurposed and for them to be vacating the building at the end of 2017 anyway , to me, $75,000 I don't need from the Colorado Symphony in that period of time. That's just one more musician on the street. And I think we have enough of musicians on our streets right now. So I'd like it to go back to committee and bring the symphony folks in because they were not represented at the first committee meeting. Thank you, Mr. President. Thank you, Councilman Flynn. Councilman, new. House. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I also agree with this, Councilman Flynn. I think those discussions in Finance Committee were really about the future development of this building and how the space is going to be used. And I thought it was a very good discussion and questions raised where we really didn't have the answer about the future planning of this building. So I think this will give us a little bit more time to understand how this building is going to be used, as well as the financial impact on the symphony as Councilman Flynn had brought up. Thank you, Councilman. New Councilman Ken each. Thank you, Mr. President. I felt the need just to chime in, because I originally had asked this to go to committee, I think, along with Councilwoman Ortega and I, I was uncomfortable with the fact the symphony was not there. But I you know, I did go ahead and with some consternation, move this out of committee. But so I'm not presuming that my my decision to allow this lease to go forward will change. But I do believe that given that we did not have the party there, I think it is appropriate to to revisit the discussion. And in part, I think the concerns that I raised in committee, I won't go into into total detail, but we're related not just to the Symphony's ability to pay and the long term implications of their financial ability to continue providing a beloved service to our our patrons in the city, but also to the fact that if and when they they were to vacate the floor pursuant to the lease, that it would likely be taken over in what would be the typical capital investment. So I guess I would just like to say that if we're going to hear this in committee, it would be helpful to know from the partnerships specifically as well what the expected investment they will be making will be in the floor so that we can keep track of what is being invested in this building that has an uncertain future because that is a concern. So let's add that to the discussion as well. Thank you. Thank you, Councilwoman Leach. Councilman Flanders. Okay. If I go to a couple of councilmembers and ask what's great? Councilwoman Sassaman, you're up. Thank you very much, Mr. President. You know, Jeff Steinberg is in the audience, and I'd like to ask him if if such a postponement causes any other kind of issues with real estate transactions in the symphony? And is the symphony aware that this proposal is on the floor? Does it interfere with any of their possible plans? Just like that's a lot of questions. But sure, I would like you to give us that. Give us some background on this. I'm Jeff Steinberg. I'm director of real estate for the City. And I'll try and take them one at a time, as I remember. I mean, if I don't remember. I'm all right. You got the gist. All right. So as the lease sits today, it expires by its own terms on September 30th. And at that point, it requires the symphony to move out of the space. I've been working with Jerry Kern, who's president or CEO of the CSO, and as his lease was coming to a term, he reached out to me to see if there is a way that we could extend the term and that if it called for paying rent, that he was willing to do that, that it was a far better opportunity to remain in the space, not have to pay for moving relocation costs and enter into the marketplace to identify suitable lease space. So as we move forward, we ultimately came up with the $5,000 a month in rent, which was the same amount of rent that he was paying back in 2013 when they resided in Bettcher concert hall space. So that's why that number came about and he was comfortable with that number. And postponing it. Does he know that this was going to happen this evening and is that going to cause any heartburn to the symphony? Well, couple of things. Yes, he did know it was going to happen this evening. I mean, he and I have been talking about it since it went to committee mayor council and tonight to first reading the. Concern that I have is if it's postponed to the 24th, it would that essentially be first reading at that time if it were postponed to the 24th? I suspect so is the first reading tonight, isn't it. Yeah. Yes. Yeah. It's just making sure that whatever is put into place and agreed upon can be executed, fully executed by the 30th of September. Otherwise, the terms of their lease would cause them to move out of the space. The existing lease that they are. Does this if it's postponed two weeks, does it give enough time for them to do this before the lease is up? Well, again, I'm not sure what the outcome of that meeting is. So in other words, the bill that is before council is to approve extending them that $5,000 a month. If there is a meeting at the 24th and the terms of the lease were changed then I would imagine that a new lease would have to be executed . I would imagine that somebody within the mayor's office or whoever would be sponsoring the change would have to sponsor it, create a new lease, and it would have to be sent out for execution or exchanged with the party that is going to enter into it, approved, and then come back through the council process. I don't I don't know if on the 24th, if the terms of the agreement are changed for essentially at first reading, or if somebody within the administration would have to make the decision as to whether or not they're going to agree to that or not. So it cuts it pretty tight, is what you're saying. And in especially if there's any changes or concerns. And as I understand it, the symphony was accepting of this lease. It's a lease they paid for in 2013. Same amount for the for the facility, right. Yeah, a different facility. But it was what they were paying back in 2013. Okay. Thanks very much. You're welcome. Thank you, Councilwoman Sussman. Councilwoman Ortega. Thank you, Mr. President. I met this afternoon with Ginger White from arts and venues, and we talked a little bit about this. So we really have two issues here. One is the issue between the Colorado Symphony and their space in the building and their their current lease or the need to renegotiate the lease. And then the second is the use of this building and how it plays a role in the bigger picture planning that is going on with the performing arts complex, which I think is a bigger issue of concern, particularly if we allow further investment in this building. That might require the city deciding we need this building and we want to use it for a different purpose. And as we were told in committee when it came, we would have to buy out that lease and that would more than likely include some of the major investment and improvements that would be going into the building. So that's why I think it makes sense to send this back to committee so we can have a further discussion about the role that this plays in the bigger picture. And just as a side note, there are public hearings being scheduled. There's one this Wednesday, August 12th, and that will be, I don't know, the location, but you can go to a website called Deep AC Masterplan dot com. Denver Performing Arts Center Master Plan dot com. And they're taking public input from people who want to look at what's being proposed and be able to weigh in on the big picture. And so I think that is part of the concern that I expressed when we had the contract that came forward for the Denver Partnership. I think they're doing some incredible things in that building with the programs that they have brought forward. I've had an opportunity to tour the building and to look at some of the agencies that are being housed there and the work they're doing with start up businesses. I haven't been able to determine that any of those startup businesses are from the creative industries or the arts community. But this building has always played a vital role in the performing arts complex. And so I think it's why having this conversation that includes the symphony, but to really understand the big picture is important. So I'm going to be supporting this postponement tonight. Thank you, Councilwoman Ortega. Councilman Espinosa. Jeff So you said that this is more of a committee thing, but I just want to clarify that while this is going back to a 2013 rate, what was the 2014 rate? So we had from 2014, actually, it was towards the end of 2013 because it was a two year deal that was that they were paying no rent, but they were paying operating expenses. So somewhere between operating expenses and $5,000, what I heard was some concern about the component of the well, this sort of notion of of taking an arts program and charging them a rate. And you testified that they were okay with it, but we have yet to hear it directly from that agency. And so it would be nice to have them at the table essentially supporting what is being conveyed and also to hear whether somewhere between operating expenses and 5000 is actually some sort of compromise that would simply be a modification of the that line. Were there other items in that contract that also changed? It's an amendment to an existing lease that changes the lease rate. So it's just the rate. Yeah. Great. Thank you, Councilman Espinosa. All right, Councilman Flynn, you're up. Thank you, Mr. President. I just wanted to point out that it was mentioned earlier, which is why I chimed in that by postponing this to the 24th, we can we can still introduce it, pass it on introduction. And then the next Financial Services Committee meeting is the following morning. So it does keep it on track. It does not delay final adoption by the 31st, which is the 30 day deadline for this contract. Also, Geoff, my understanding is that the rent they were paying in Metro Hall was not 5000 was somewhat less than that. About 4300. And is it true if you know do you know if it's true that because of the financial situation, they in fact, were not paying that or were not current and rent was deferred or forgiven. As far as the 40 $300 versus 5000, the information that I received was 5000. They were not paying rent to our agency. They were paying it to artisan venues. And the reason that they were caused to move out of that space was for construction that was going on. Exactly. Yeah. Okay. So is there anyone here who does know whether that rent was deferred and whether it was actually paid? I just have a concern about the capacity of the of the symphony in the time they have remaining in that building to meet that obligation. I'm going to ask Mark Najarian from Arts and Venues to come up. But I will say that in order to be filed for the meeting tonight, the CSO had to sign the lease. So they have accepted it by hosting Natalie. I understand that. Classrooms. Landmark Nigerian Arts Venues, Venue Director at the Performing Arts Complex. The symphony did eventually get up and become current with us. There was a short period where we worked out a payment plan when they were office in in Bettcher concert hall. It was, if I recall correctly, was the 5000 or 60,000 per year. So this is the same amount. And when they did move out, they were current with us. Okay. That's a different figure than than I was told. Came from venue. Yes. And finally, my understanding is that they may be asked during this extended period to relocate, to move out of the third floor. Is that so? They would have to incur moving expenses as well and consolidate on the fourth floor. The current lease that's in place with the downtown Denver Event Center provides that they have option to that space, the third floor, because there was a specific date in which the symphony lease expired. So in order to allow for the symphony to continue in the building, they needed to consolidate to the fourth floor. Right. And they will do that. I mean, they've already exercised that well. I mean, they have signed the lease that says that they will consolidate to the fourth floor and they will pay $5,000 a month. And what is the annual rental that the downtown Denver partnership is paying for the rest of the building there? They are paying a dollar a year and they're paying operating expenses. Okay. They're paying a dollar a year? That's correct. All right. Thank you. That's all, Mr. President. Thank you, Councilman Flynn. Councilwoman. Thank you. Councilman Flynn clarified my question, which is that the amount is not the only change in the lease, that the space being occupied is also a change from the existing. And that was not when you had answer, Councilman Espinosa. You said only the amount is changing. So I just I think we're clear now. That is correct. Thank you. Thank you. Councilman Cohen, each Councilwoman Sussman. I just wanted to respond to Councilman. Thank you, Mr. President. Councilman Flynn. Yes, I understand that there is there are enough days between the 24th and the end of the lease, but if there are significant changes that take a bit more time there, it's a tight schedule that it still might not make it. And I and I understand the concern that the symphony wasn't it committee or is not here this evening but that also means that we don't know whether they would want us to postpone it or not. They may be very pleased with it and hope that it continues forward. We don't know that answer. Thank you, Councilman Sussman. All right. In the comments on 522. All right. We have before us the motion to re refer to committee to Monday, August 24th, seeking to committee until Monday, August 24th. See no other comments. Madam Secretary, roll call. Flynn. I Gilmore. No Cashman. I. Can eat. Lopez I knew. Ortega Hi. Sussman No black eye. Clark, I. Espinosa, I. Mr. President. I. Madam Secretary, please. First of all, you know the results. Ten Eyes. Two names. Ten Eyes, two names. 522 has been. Move the committee until Monday, August 24th, 2015. All right. The next one, I believe, Madam Secretary, was 530. That was council members Flynn and new. Um let me first either either I'll start with Councilor Flynn did you want that on the floor or do you have a comment or question? Mr. President, I just had a question. All right. Just 1/2, Councilman. Did you want it to the floor? Do you have a comment in question? Just a comment. All right. Well, all right. Councilman Flynn, you're up. Thank you, Mr. President. As you may recall, at the mayor council meeting where we discussed this, I had inquired as to the the record of of response times in my district in southwest Denver. And other members may also be interested, but I would like to know if it's possible by next week, if we can get a breakdown