- April 18, 2024
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The city of Palm Coast won’t have to move its offices to avoid a 57% rent increase proposed by its landlord at City Marketplace.
Instead, Palm Coast has worked out an agreement for a one-year lease that will increase the city’s rent by 10%, from $20,000 per month to $22,000 per month, Palm Coast City Manager Jim Landon told city council members at a June 24 workshop.
Landon recommended the council approve the lease when a vote is held at an upcoming meeting.
The new lease would give the city time to prepare for a move to its new City Hall in fall 2015, and means the city won’t have to move twice — an option the council was considering as a possibility if its current landlord, John C. Bills Properties, didn’t back down on the rent hike.
The city will not be affected by a proposed 212% Common Area Maintenance fee increase affecting the Sheriff’s Office and other City Marketplace tenants, because the city pays a flat rate and has no CAM fees.
Hollingsworth Gallery moving to NatureScapes
JJ Graham and his gallery won’t be moving to the A1A Center. The “dealbreaker” came when Graham learned the school board wouldn’t allow him to serve wine during openings. But he can’t afford to remain at City Marketplace, either, since JC Bills, the complex’s new landlords — want so much cheddar.
“I feel compelled to say that a 300% increase in [Common Area Maintenance] charges, without allowing a tenant to exit the lease agreement if they can’t afford it, is unjust and places profit above good human conduct,” Graham wrote via text.
Instead, Graham is currently negotiating a lease at NatureScapes for use of a 6000-square foot building. He wants to move to the spot, located off Old Brick Road in Bunnell, by September.
The building “has 25-foot concrete block walls for him to hang his art on, blanketed under ancient oak trees,” said Marylou Baiata, the site’s owner. “It’s a sanctuary.”
Meanwhile, Graham will continue to honor his unwritten rent agreement for Hollingsworth Gallery at City Marketplace, his business’s home for the past six years. He hopes that’s enough.
“I’ll be sending them a rent check each month,” he said. My hope is that they cash it, and I don’t receive an eviction notice on my door.”
Flagler Sheriffs ‘disappointed’ with new rent agreement
John C. Bills wants the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office to pay an additional $5,356.38 in CAM fees for the months of January through June, on top of the $420 it already paid during that period.
A June 5 letter sent by Cypress Point, LLC, a company John C. Bills set up to manage the properties at City Marketplace, outlines the new rent agreement for the Sheriff’s Office. Starting Aug. 1, FCSO will pay $1622.25 in monthly rent, not including the CAM fees.
Public Information Officer Paula Priester acknowledged the Sheriff’s Office is weighing all its options but hasn’t determined a plan of action just yet.
“We don’t have an answer yet,” Priester said. “This is all really new to us, and it looks like they’re going to start charging us on the next billing statement.”
But Sid Nowell, a Bunnell attorney who represents the Sheriff’s Office, hopes the two parties can go back to bargaining table.
“We were surprised and disappointed in the proposed increase and intend to discuss the matter further with the Landlord to see if a more reasonable rate, if appropriate, can be negotiated,” Nowell said.
Jerry Masiello, a local leasing manager for the landlords, did not immediately respond to a phone call for comment.
