HomeMy WebLinkAboutConstituent Letter - Mail Packet - 1/5/2021 - Letter From Laurie Klith, The Center For Family Outreach, Re: Lease Renewal Of 212 West Mountain Ave.
Date: December 29, 2020
Dear Mayor Troxell, Councilmember Cunniff, Councilmember Gutowsky, Councilmember Stephens,
Councilmember Pignataro, Councilmember Summers, Councilmember Gorgol
Greetings and Happy Holidays from the Center for Family Outreach.
We are inquiring about the renewal of our lease with the City of Fort Collins at 212 West mountain Avenue for
an additional three years as our lease is expiring January 14, 2021. For past three years, we have rented the
facility--in 2017 for $10.00 per square foot (totaling $37,110), in 2018 for $11.00 per square foot (totaling
$40,821), and in 2020 for $12.00 per square foot (totaling $44,532).
The Center for Family Outreach, a nonprofit agency that provides a critical service to our young people and
families who struggle with mental health and substance issues, experienced many obstacles this year. Like
everyone, we had to navigate serving clients during the pandemic, but in May of this year, the leased premises
received significant roof damage which displaced us from May until November, 2020. Our entire office was
emptied, and office furniture was placed in a city storage area for seven months. These two major events caused
significant hardships for us as an agency, and it made it very difficult for us to raise funds for general operations.
We have filed a citizen claim form for damage to the office items, supplies, and disconnection and reconnection
charges for phones and computers.
On December 18, we received a letter from Keith Hanson, Real Estate Services Manager, informing us that our
rent will increase $432.00 dollars if we choose to renew our lease. Mr. Hanson indicated that, based on a fair
market analysis, our rent would increase to $4,143.75/month ($13/SF/YR) which is $49,725.00/year with an
annual 3% yearly increase. As a non-profit, we were invited to complete and submit a Rubric application and
evaluation which could potentially give us a discount from fair market rent.
The Rubric process takes a few weeks to complete and will go past our lease expiration date. Therefore, until the
process is complete, our lease will be month-to-month at the current lease’s monthly rate. Further, because we
have a rent credit for January and February, we do not have to pay rent for those two months, regardless of
when the Rubric process is complete.
We approached Ken Mannon, Operation and Facilities Services Department Head, on December 17 and asked if
we could sign an additional three-year lease for the original lease agreement of 2021 for $10.00, 2022 for
$11.00, and for $12.00 in 2023. Unfortunately, we were told that was not an option. We will be filling out the
Rubric Process in the hopes that we would be able to have a reduction in rent so we can stay within our budget.
The Center for Family Outreach provides critical services to the Fort Collins community, youth, and families. In
addition, we are funded by the City of Fort Collins Social Sustainability Department, and we are a referral agency
for the Fort Collins Police Services and Poudre School District. We hope you will consider our plea when
reviewing our Rubric process and application.
Thank you,
Laurie Klith, Executive Director of the Center for Family Outreach