Wilmington leaders will consider two more leases this week for space in the Skyline Center – the city-owned downtown building that formerly belonged to Thermo Fisher Scientific.
The city of Wilmington purchased the 12-story building at 929 N. Front St. last July for $68 million with plans to occupy roughly five floors while leasing two floors of the building back to Thermo Fisher Scientific. City staff are working with Cape Fear Commercial to lease the remaining vacant space in the building.
The Wilmington City Council is set to consider two resolutions on Tuesday authorizing City Manager Tony Caudle to enter into lease agreements with Raleigh-based bank Local Government Federal Credit Union and Wilmington nonprofit Leading Into New Communities, Inc. (LINC) for space in the Skyline Center.
The larger of the two potential agreements would lease just over 3,000 square feet on the building’s first floor to Local Government Federal Credit Union. The full-service lease would cost the bank $132,349 per year with costs escalating annually. The lease would have an initial period of five years with the right to renew the lease for one additional four-year period. The bank currently has two locations in Wilmington, according to its website.
The second agreement would lease just over 700 square feet of space on the building’s fourth floor to LINC. The full-service lease would cost the nonprofit $23,400 per year with costs escalating annually. The lease would have an initial period of three years with the right to renew the lease for one additional four-year period.
According to its website, LINC’s mission is to help provide transitional living and case management services to meet the needs of men and women returning from prison.
Last month, the city council unanimously approved leasing more than 4,000 square feet of space on the building’s fourth floor to the Wilmington and Beaches
Convention & Visitors Bureau. That space is set to cost $117,768 per year with an initial term of 10 years and the right to renew the lease for up to two additional terms of five years each.
The proceeds from each lease will be used to help offset the costs of operating the building, according to the council’s agenda documents.