On Tuesday night, a payment of $11,250 to Griffin Realty was approved by Bloomington’s board of public works. The payment was part of the board’s routine authorization of claims that appear at the end of every board meeting agenda.
The payment to Griffin Realty was for work that was done by the real estate firm in the fall of last year, to advertise and market the city’s 3rd Street police station headquarters.
At that time, the plan that former Bloomington mayor John Hamilton’s administration had set in motion was to sell the police station, and to use the proceeds from the sale to help pay for the renovations to the Showers West building, which was supposed to be the future home of the police department.
When the Bloomington’s city council voted unanimously in mid-December last year, to reject a proposed $4.4-million sale of the police station building, that meant Griffin Realty did not receive its 4-percent commission.
Griffin Realty is owned by former Bloomington deputy mayor Don Griffin, who was unsuccessful in his 2023 bid for election as mayor.
If the deal had been approved by the city council, the $4.4-million sale to GMS-Pavillion would have translated into a payment of $176,000 to Griffin’s firm.
The much smaller amount that Griffin Realty was paid does not appear to be spelled out explicitly in the original contract.
But an amendment to the agreement does specify compensation in addition to the 4-percent commission. The amendment calls for compensation at a rate of $150 per hour for the marketing services that Griffin Realty provided.
At Tuesday’s board of public works meeting, Bloomington’s director of public works, Adam Wason, told the board that the city’s legal department, the controller’s office and Griffin Realty had discussed the compensation for the real estate firm’s effort and concluded the contract amendment was “a fair way to compensate for the services provided.”
The amendment does not appear to be dated, but the original file name of the document, which was provided to The B Square by city attorney Larry Allen, includes the string “20231222.” That suggests the amendment was signed on Dec. 22, 2023, about a week after the city council’s vote.
The invoice for the work submitted by Griffin Realty says the firm put in a total of 75 hours starting on Oct. 24, 2023, averaging about 8.5 hours a week. The work included “doing research, preparing materials for marketing, general marketing, data input in Multiple Listing Service and LoopNet,” according to the invoice.
The work also included “communicating with prospects, preparing a purchase agreement for buyer #1, presenting it to the City, preparing counter offers and presenting to each side,” according to the invoice.
The three offers secured by Griffin Realty were for $4.4 million, $3.2 million and $4.85 million.
Given that new Bloomington mayor Kerry Thomson’s administration has now changed course on the Showers West project, there does not appear to be any realistic chance the city would sell the 3rd Street police station anytime soon.
But under the terms of the amended agreement, Griffin Realty could eventually see a bigger payment than the $11,250 approved by the board of public works on Tuesday. One scenario where that could happen would entail the city’s eventual sale the property, to one of the three buyers from which Griffin received offers. In that scenario, Griffin Realty would be paid 4 percent of the gross sale price—minus the $11,250.
A good lesson learned. Taxpayers beware. Failed real estate transactions of publicly owned property will cost you. At any rate, a small price to pay had it not been corrected by the current administration.
I would like to know if this is standard in commercial RE transactions. And, if not, why the City agreed to it. Certainly, in residential sales the broker eats marketing costs when a deal falls through., which often happens. It’s just the cost of doing business.
GRAFT: the acquisition of gain (such as money) in dishonest or questionable ways (Merriam Webster dictionary).
Shame on the elected officials and appointed administrators in former and current city government for their involvement in hiring the former deputy mayor and for approving these payments. Most of all, shame on Don Griffin for his lack of a moral compass. It should have been obvious to everyone concerned that it was not appropriate, even if it was legal. This proves once again that one-party rule is not healthy in a democracy. Thank you, Dave, for shining a bright light on all this ugly insider shenanigans.
I agree. Griffin should have never gotten the contract. Conflict of interest.
if I listed a property with a realtor, and I didn’t have the ability to convey that property, say, because my brother also had to agree to sell the property, and he refused, that would make it an invalid contract, in my opinion.
the city and entered into a contract, where they did not have the legal right to convey the property.