COEUR d’ALENE — The University of Idaho has requested that the City Council authorize Mayor Dan Gookin’s administration to negotiate a sale of Harbor Center, which the university has leased since 2002, and some of the surrounding land.

During tonight’s meeting, the City Council will consider whether to open negotiations.

“Solidifying in Coeur d’Alene the presence of Idaho’s land-grant university — the state’s premier research institution — its only Carnegie R1 university (one of the top 4 percent in the nation) — will benefit the citizens we serve,” Andrew Fields, CEO of University of Idaho Coeur d’Alene, wrote in a Jan. 14 letter to the City Council. 

The city acquired Harbor Center in 1991 from Metropolitan Mortgage and Securities Co., Inc. Several tenants leased space in the building at the time and continued to do so after the purchase. 

Some of the land surrounding the building was purchased by the Wastewater Utility Fund using ratepayer fees for possible future expansion of the Wastewater Treatment Plant. 

Though the Wastewater Department has no use for the building, it opposes selling the land, according to a city staff report. An update to the department’s facility plan is underway, which will determine “reasonable expectations for growth and may include use of that property.” 

The Parks Department has also expressed concerns about the sale of the land, according to the city, citing conflicts with U of I over parking at the site for boat rentals and the trail that runs through the property, as well as the scope of the BLM Master Plan for that area. 

The University of Idaho is the building’s current tenant, with the Coeur d’Alene Tribe as a subtenant. 

The initial five-year lease was “very favorable” to the university, with rent of just $10 per year and a provision regarding “good faith” negotiations for a possible purchase of the premises at the end of the lease term. 

When the lease was extended through 2010 and then through 2013, so was the provision for negotiations for the sale of Harbor Center. 

A third amendment to the lease, effective in 2013 and extending the term through June 2028, did not include the negotiation clause or the provision to increase rent to $20 per month or $3,800 for 15 years. 

“This is far below the fair rental value and, over the years, the university has also been able to sublease a portion of the building for significant consideration,” the staff report said. 

The sale of Harbor Center will bring an undetermined amount of one-time revenue into the city’s general fund and, if the land is sold with the building, into the Wastewater Utility Fund. The proceeds from the sale of land would be split, with 75% going to the Wastewater Utility Fund. 

If the city sells the building or property, it will no longer be required to maintain it. 

“However, the city will be divesting itself of valuable riverfront property and the possibility of significant rental income,” the staff report said. 

The public uses the land surrounding the Harbor Center for parking to access the Centennial Trail and some commercial docks for which the city receives annual income. 

“The land is also an integral part of the Four Corners (BLM) Master Plan,” the report said. 

In his letter to the City Council, Fields said the sale of the building and land will “open the door to expanded educational pathways,” particularly in collaboration with North Idaho College, improve the ability to develop research and teaching programs and increase opportunities for intergovernmental and community partnerships. 

The sale would also permit increased and more strategic capital investments in the property and allow for the creation of a “better-defined ‘Vandal’ space” that’s more welcoming to students and alumni, Fields wrote. 

“Stewardship of public funds is a key driver of this request — investing Idahoans’ taxpayer dollars into a state-owned facility would be a more fiscally responsible arrangement for a continued U of I presence in the Coeur d’Alene Education Corridor.” 

    The University of Idaho has leased Harbor Center from the city of Coeur d'Alene since 2002.