Carol Stream OKs lease for temporary village hall
Carol Stream will run village business out of temporary offices for nearly two years under a lease approved Monday night by the village board.
Employees in seven departments will move out of the existing village hall before the start of an $18 million project to expand and remodel the 40,400-square-foot building on Gary Avenue.
Their new headquarters? A building about two miles away at 505 E. North Ave., where appliance retailer McDade & Co. had a store in the 1980s.
The village will pay the property owner $577,500 over the course of the 22-month lease to use 30,000 square feet of the building. The agreement provides for additional time in the event of construction delays.
Attorneys for the two sides finalized the pact just hours before the special board meeting Monday.
The village and building owner will share the costs of a $200,000 project that includes upgrading the electrical power system, putting in new entryway doors and installing two bathrooms that meet Americans with Disabilities Act requirements. The landlord will apply a $100,000 credit toward the village's monthly rent.
Overall, the village has budgeted about $1.18 million for renovations of the temporary facility, rent, utilities and architect fees, among other expenses associated with the move.
Trustees agreed to waive the formal bidding process and instead asked the village's construction manager to seek competitive proposals from contractors vying to complete the improvements at the building near the northwest corner of North Avenue and Schmale Road. Waiving the process will enable the project to proceed "more quickly" and enable demolition work to begin on a section of the current village hall, a board memo stated.
Employees will relocate in phases. Two of the building's existing tenants are supposed to move out of their spaces when their leases expire Feb. 1.
But one of the tenants is still working on a lease for another building in Carol Stream and may not be able to move out until about mid-February, Assistant Village Manager Bob Mellor told the board.
Some police operations would move into the building first - in early March.
The lease for a third tenant is due to expire March 31. Village administrators and employees in community development, engineering and finance departments expect to move over in late April.
In early March, other police department employees in traffic, special operations and investigation units will start working out of the Glendale Heights municipal complex at 300 Civic Center Plaza. Police also will use the Glendale Heights jail.
Carol Stream will pay Glendale Heights a token $10 under the terms of that agreement.
About $18 million would pay for designing, building and equipping a village hall that would increase in size to 68,750 square feet. The village plans to use cash reserves to pay for the project without taking loans.
Homeowners will drop off their water bills at a mailbox the village will install at an undetermined site.