By Jason Crane
At the Aurora city government Committee of the Whole meeting Tuesday, through the Zoom video conference platform, the City Council listened to plans to continue to revive the winterized historic Hobbs Building.
• Consent was given to a resolution authorizing the execution of a first amendment to the redevelopment agreement previously entered into between the city government of Aurora and JH Real Estate Partners, LLC.
The purpose is to modify certain provisions of the previously-approved redevelopment agreement (RDA) to assure that construction commences in March and is completed in this year.
The Hobbs Building, one of the most iconic and historically significant buildings in Aurora, was approved 18 months ago for redevelopment. The city government agreed to donate the building to JH Real Estate Partners, LLC, an Illinois limited liability company, 2-12 N. River, and JH 2-12 N River HTC, LLC, an Illinois limited liability company, Harish Ananthapadmanabhan and Jay Punukollu.
The redevelopment of Hobbs and its adjacent property is planned to add 31 new market rate residential units to the downtown and about 10,000 square feet of retail space on River Street. It will bookend the highly-successful 80 South River Building (Old School District 129) another piece in the neighborhood revitalization. The Hobbs Building never was formally put on the National Historic Register and risked being lost to history. It sat unused and under-maintained. The plan is to put the building back on the tax rolls.
These are predicated on certain conditions being met that include demonstration of financial wherewithal to complete the redevelopment, and the execution of a formal construction agreement with a general contractor with historic renovation expertise. Bush Construction was chosen by the developer(s) to perform these responsibilities; a selection that was approved by the city government. Certain critical structural and masonry work started shortly after the approval of the RDA, but the redevelopment of the site, that includes the adjacent building to the north, awaited Federal and State approval of its historic designation and financing.
• The time line has been adjusted with the completion date moved from March 31, to January 31 2022. • The rights and obligations of the developer as originally defined, include related entities and now is comprised of JH Real Estate Partners, LLC, JH2-12 N. River LLC, and JH 2-12 N. River HTC, LLC • A parking agreement, referred to in the original Legistar summary which defines the Developers’ use of Lot H and access to other available parking. • It reworks language pertaining to the city government’s rights should the project not move ahead and the city government is forced to reclaim the Hobbs Building.
• Consent was given to a resolution authorizing a lease agreement in the not to exceed amount of $46,500.00 with Nadler Golf Car Sales Inc. for the use of 61 “2021 Model Tempo EFI” GPS equipped gasoline powered golf carts at Phillips Park Golf Course.
City of Aurora government documents show the City has been leasing golf carts from Nadler for more than 10 years. The previous lease with Nadler expired December 1, 2020.
A request for proposals was conducted in November 2020. Proposals were evaluated and Nadler was selected as the company whose proposal best the City’s needs.
Based in Aurora, Nadler Golf Car Sales has been in business for more than 57 years.
Nadler’s proposal included a service agreement including automatic weekly service, no charge emergency service, full coverage insurance, spare tires, and full off-season reconditioning.
The contract would be for a three-year lease with optional two one-year extensions based on mutual agreement.
The cost of leasing 61 carts will be $46,500 per year, 2021 budget has funding for this expenditure in the amount of $44,500 and a budget transfer will be completed to cover the remaining $2,000 difference.
Funds for GPS features will be covered through sale of advertisement, and will be recovered through cart rental fees.
Nadler has no outstanding debt with the city government of Aurora.
Approval of the lease would give Phillips Park Golf Course a brand new fleet of GPS enabled golf carts which will serve as an additional amenity that will be available to patrons and customers. The GPS enabled carts will help keep maintenance costs down by creating a geo fence to keep carts out of areas that carts should not be driven on due to the potential for damage such as tee boxes, greens, natural habitats, and other restricted areas.
The use of GPS will further the City’s endeavor to increase the use of technology as they plan to move Phillips Park towards becoming a Smart Park, and bring in additional revenue through sale of advertising displays on units.
Final approval for items on the consent agenda are set to be made at the February 23 Aurora City Council meeting.