2 leases OK'd by Bloomington: K23 Films, Weddle Bros.

Two leases were approved by Bloomington's redevelopment commission (RDC) at its regular Monday meeting, which reflected incremental moves on two big projects, even if the dollar amounts were small.

In one case the dollar amount was zero—a temporary lease to Weddle Brothers, to use part of the former Bunger & Robertson building at the corner of 4th Street and College Avenue as a field office for the Bloomington Convention Center expansion. Weddle Brothers is the construction manager for the expansion project.

In the other case, the dollar amount was also small, because the amount of space to be leased is small—it's 363 square feet at The Forge, to be occupied by K23 Films, Inc. The Trades District technology center has been branded as The Forge.

Lease to Weddle Bros.

The RDC owns the former Bunger & Robertson building and lot, which is currently under consideration by Dora Hospitality as the location of a hotel to support the convention center expansion. That means there has to be a lot of flexibility built into the lease to Weddle Brothers, assistant city attorney Dana Kerr told the RDC on Monday. The space needed by Weddle Brothers could change over time, just as the amount of available space in the building for Weddle Brothers could change.

The former Bunger & Robertson building is a good location as a field office for the convention center expansion, because it will be built kitty corner from the former law office, and across College Avenue from the existing convention center.

During the back and forth between city staff and RDC members, it emerged that there are several solar panels in storage at the former Bunger & Robertson building. The panels are left over from a $14-million lease arrangement with Energy Systems Group, LLC, approved in 2017, which was then refinanced with bonds in 2021.

Responding to an emailed question from The B Square, Bloomington's director of economic and sustainable development Jane Kupersmith put the number of panels in storage at 1,800. During the RDC's Monday meeting, Kupersmith said that Shawn Miya, who is assistant director of sustainability, is working with the city controller's office to offer the solar panels to a single buyer through the asset disposition process. There's an interested buyer, Kupersmith said.

Responding to a question from RDC member Randy Cassady, Kupersmith said a single buyer would be an "ideal partner," because selling them panel by panel to members of the local community would be challenging, even though there are probably several people who would be interested in them. Doing a piecemeal distribution of the panels, would still leave installation and other expenses to individual homeowners, Kupersmith said.

Lease to K23 Films

There's a total of 12,577 square feet of rentable space in The Forge. At last count, lease agreements to cover 66% of the space had been approved by the RDC. So the 363 square feet to be occupied by K23 Films, Inc. will bump the leased out percentage to around 69%.

The Forge is the new 3-story 22,000-square-foot building across from The Mill co-working space with a rust-colored brick facade, with dark gray accents. It's supposed to provide office space for technology companies that are beyond the startup phase. The nearly $13-million budget for The Forge drew on a $3.5 million grant from the federal Economic Development Administration (EDA), as well as TIF (tax increment finance) funding approved by Bloomington's redevelopment commission (RDC).

Support for the buildout of tenant space will come in part from an $18-million Lilly Foundation grant that was awarded to the Indiana University Foundation this fall. In the case of the space for K23 Films, the space has already been built out, which means the company could be the first to actually take occupancy in The Forge.

John Fernandez, who is interim president of The Mill, which is the nonprofit administering The Forge, told the RDC at its Monday meeting that the space to be rented by K23 Films, Inc. was actually designed as an office space for the separate nonprofit that was to be formed to administer the technology center. When The Mill took over the role of administering the center, the 363 square feet did not need to be allotted for that purpose.

The Mill also came up as a topic at the RDC meeting, when Fernandez alerted commissioners that The Mill is currently weighing options related to its planned expansion, using some of the Lilly Foundation grant money. The recent discovery of a leaning south wall at the 110-year-old former Showers Brothers Furniture building, which could cost up to $600,000 to repair, means that some consideration is being given to using the Lilly money to gain extra space through a remodeling and reconfiguring of the interior.

Members of The Mill's coworking space, Fernandez said, are currently contending with some disruption due to the repair work for the leaning wall. The idea would be to prolong the current disruption, which would mean just the one disruption, instead of a second one later, for the planned expansion project. Those alternate plans sound tentative—Fernandez was just keeping RDC members apprised of The Mill's latest thinking.