An $11,250 payment to Griffin Realty was approved Tuesday night by the City of Bloomington's Public Works Commission. This payment was part of the board's daily claim approval, which appears at the end of every board meeting agenda.
The payment to Griffin Realty was for work the real estate firm did last fall for advertising and marketing for the city's Third Street Police Department headquarters.
At the time, the plan initiated by former Bloomington Mayor John Hamilton's administration was to sell the police station and use the proceeds to renovate the Showers West building. Home of the future police station.
When the Bloomington City Council unanimously passed a resolution in mid-December to reject the proposed sale of the police station building for $4.4 million, Griffin Realty did not receive a 4% commission.
Griffin Realty is owned by former Bloomington Deputy Mayor Don Griffin, who ran unsuccessfully for mayor in 2023.
Had the deal been approved by the City Council, the $4.4 million sale to GMS Pavilion would represent a $176,000 payment to Griffin's company.
The amount paid to Griffin Realty is much smaller, but it does not appear to be clearly stated in the original contract.
However, the proposed amendment to the agreement specifies remuneration in addition to the 4% commission. In this amendment, he requests compensation of $150 per hour for marketing services provided by Griffin Realty.
At Tuesday's Public Works Commission meeting, Bloomington Public Works Director Adam Wason said the city's legal department, the Office of the Administrator and Griffin Realty will discuss compensation for the real estate company's efforts and that the contract amendments will be made. He told the board that he concluded it was “unreasonable.” It is a fair way to pay for services provided. ”
The proposed amendment does not appear to have a date, but the original filename of the document provided to B Square by City Attorney Larry Allen includes the string “20231222.” This suggests the amendment was signed on December 22, 2023, about a week after the City Council vote.
An invoice for the work submitted by Griffin Realty states that the company spent a total of 75 hours starting Oct. 24, 2023, averaging about 8.5 hours per week. According to the invoice, the work included “research, preparation of marketing materials, general marketing, and data entry into multiple listing services and Loopnet.”
According to the invoice, the work also included “communicating with prospective buyers, preparing a purchase agreement for Purchaser #1, presenting it to the city, and preparing and presenting a counteroffer to both parties.”
The three offers Griffin Realty secured were $4.4 million, $3.2 million and $4.85 million.
Given Bloomington's new Mayor Kelly Thomson's administration's change in direction on the Showers West project, there doesn't seem to be a realistic chance the city will sell the Third Street Police Station anytime soon.
But under the revised terms of the agreement, Griffin Realty could end up being paid more than the $11,250 approved by the Public Utilities Commission on Tuesday. He said one of the scenarios that could happen is that the city ends up selling the property to one of his three buyers that Griffin has received offers from. In this scenario, Griffin Realty would be paid his 4% of the total sales price minus his $11,250.
