City leaders considering extending COD lease for library instead of building new

Palm Desert leaders are leaning toward exploring a lease extension for the library space at College of the Desert and renovating it, rather than building a standalone library, Mayor Evan Trubee told the Parks and Recreation Committee on Tuesday. He said the lease has not been finalized.

The city had been pursuing its own building after years of being told the college would not renew the lease, Trubee said. The estimated cost of that building rose from $30 million to about $45 million over roughly a year, and he said it could reach $55 million to $60 million.

At $30 million, the project was funded with $20 million in leftover redevelopment money, a $6 million grant and $4 million from Riverside County, Trubee said. A staff report concluded the city could still pay for a $45 million building, he said, but only by drawing on reserves, general fund money and funds meant for other capital projects. That led the City Council to pause and return to the college, where the city library has been located since 1996.

Trubee said the college’s new leadership has indicated the city can renew. The original lease ran 66 years, and about 33 remain. Trubee said he has heard annual lease payments of $150,000 to $300,000.

He estimated that fixing the building’s heating and cooling, roof and other problems, and possibly adding space, would cost $10 million to $12 million. He said that would save the city $30 million to $40 million compared with a new building.

Trubee said he will insist that a rewritten lease give the city control of maintenance. The original lease made the college responsible for upkeep, which he said was a longstanding complaint from library staff.

The decision matters to the committee because the $20 million in redevelopment money must be spent on a capital improvement project, Trubee said. He said it could go toward a park project, and that the state is eager to recover the money if it goes unspent.

One committee member urged the city to seek the entire building, saying the college has left part of it vacant for years.

Trubee said the college owns the roughly 40,000-square-foot building and uses about half of it, and that the city cannot demand the rest. Taking the whole building would be his first choice, he said, but it would require the college’s agreement. The city manager has conveyed the council’s position to the college, he said.