County to double Metroplan's rent

Pulaski County is doubling the rent it charges Metroplan to house its offices in a county-owned building at Broadway and West Markham Street in Little Rock.

It is probably about time.

Metroplan, the long-range transportation planning agency for central Arkansas, has been paying $34,998.75 per year for their 4,250 square feet of office space in the Jeffrey Hawkins Building at 501 W. Markham St. for more than 25 years.

The sum equates to $8.235 per square foot, which agency staff concedes has been a good deal.

"Obviously, market rate leases in this area have gone up in the intervening years," the Metroplan staff said in a memo to the agency board.

The rent is going from $34,998.75 annually to $68,000 a year. The new rate is equal to $16 per square foot, which "is in the market range for this area," according to staff.

The monthly lease payments, as a result, will go from $2,916.56 to $5,666.67.

Staff members also proposed changing the lease term to one year with four annual renewals for a total of five years. Previous lease agreements have been for five years, but the staff memo said that "binding agreements on future quorum courts is legally suspect."

Metroplan's maintenance and operation accounts are funded by dues paid by city and county members based on population.

Little Rock, for instance, pays $74,185 a year. It is the largest member of the 32 cities and counties which pay dues. The Faulkner County community of Mount Vernon, as the smallest member of the board, pays $133 annually.

The Metroplan board, which includes Pulaski County Judge Barry Hyde as a member, approved the rent increase in a voice vote with no dissent and no discussion.

Metro on 08/30/2018

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