A board made up of Grand Forks City Council members agreed to extend a lease with LM Wind Power last week.
The manufacturer of wind turbine blades opted to extend its lease for the facility at 1550 S. 48th St. for three years at $4.90 per square foot. LM’s previous lease was for $6.475 per square foot.
The rate was higher because of debt associated with remodeling the Noah’s Ark building once LM decided to expand its operations there in 2006, said Meredith Richards, the city’s planning and community development deputy director.
Amazon occupies the front portion of that building, she said.
City Assessor John Herz determined the market rate of a warehouse of that size would be $4.90 to $5.25 per square foot.
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Sean O’ Leary, the company’s chief financial officer, “requested that the lease be renewed at the low end of the market rate to assist LM in keeping costs down and remaining competitive within the industry,” a city staff report stated. He said the company employs 560 here, and has a gross payroll of $28 million.
The Grand Forks Jobs Development Authority approved the lease extension Oct. 6.
