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Report regarding a resolution authorizing the City Manager to enter into a short-term lease agreement with the Boys and Girls Club of the Peninsula for the former Main Library space at 840 West Orange Avenue. (Sharon Ranals, City Manager)
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RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends that the City Council adopt a resolution authorizing the City Manager to enter into a short-term lease agreement with the Boys and Girls Club of the Peninsula (BGCP) for the former Main Library space at 840 West Orange Avenue. The former Main Library will be used by BGCP while they remodel their Orange Avenue Clubhouse. Entitlements and Ground Lease Amendment for the Orange Avenue Clubhouse project will be presented to City Council for consideration in late summer 2025.
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BACKGROUND
The former Main Library at 840 W. Orange (the “Property”) was vacated in October 2023 when Library services were relocated to the new Library | Parks and Recreation (LPR) Center at 901 Civic Campus Way. Since then, the parking lot at the Property has been used twice monthly for the YMCA Community Resource Center’s food distributions, and on an ongoing basis for limited storage for YMCA’s diaper distribution program.
In 2024, the City issued a Request for Proposals soliciting a childcare user or other community-serving use to lease the Property and utilize it for the benefit of the community; however, the City received no responses to that solicitation. At this time, there is no long-term use, reuse, or redevelopment of the Property that has been approved by the City Council. It should be noted that future conversion of the Property for use as a licensed preschool/childcare facility has been considered for the future pending demand and available funding.
BGCP has been pursuing planning entitlements for a substantial remodel and expansion of their Clubhouse on Orange Avenue over the past year. Staff anticipates that the Planning Commission will consider these entitlements on August 21, 2025, and then the entitlements will be brought to City Council for consideration in September 2025 concurrently with a Ground Lease Amendment between the City and BGCP that is needed to support the project. While BGCP is constructing the improvements at the Orange Avenue Clubhouse, they must relocate their programs to a nearby location. In April 2025, BGCP provided a Letter of Interest for the temporary use of the Property for their programming.
DISCUSSION
A draft lease agreement has been prepared and is included as an Exhibit to the associated Resolution. The lease agreement provides for a three-year lease, with an additional three years of extensions. The lease is contemplated as no-cost provided that at least 51% of the students enrolled in BGCP programs reside within the South San Francisco Unified School District boundaries. If this threshold is not met, a penalty rent will be assessed. Additionally, BGCP will assume all tenant improvement, utility, and maintenance costs for the Property during the term of the lease.
The Property will be leased in an as-is condition, meaning the City is not providing any representations or warranties that the Property meets ADA accessibility standards, current Building codes, or environmental standards. Staff have provided BGCP previously conducted ADA accessibility evaluations for their reference as they prepare to use the space for programming on a temporary basis. Additionally, BGCP must continue to accommodate YMCA’s twice-monthly food distributions from the parking lot at the Property.
Separate from the proposed lease, the City will enter into a license agreement with BGCP for the preparation of the Property for occupancy. This license agreement is time and scope limited and includes the time necessary for BGCP to remove furniture and fixtures, and replace lighting and service HVAC and elevators. During this time, BGCP will outfit the space for their fall programming and beyond. Once this cleaning, maintenance, and preparation is complete, BGCP would occupy the Property under the terms of the proposed lease.
FISCAL IMPACT
There is no material fiscal impact associated with adopting the resolution authorizing the City Manager to execute a lease between the City and BGCP for use of the Property. While the City has some limited maintenance costs associated with the Property, they are not material to the City’s financial position.
CONCLUSION
The City does not have short or approved long-term plans for the use of the former Main Library at 840 West Orange Avenue. As such, the proposed short-term lease does not pose a constraint to the City’s plans and has the benefit of activating this vacant City asset. It will also support BGCP’s programming during the remodel and expansion of their Orange Avenue Clubhouse, meaning South San Francisco children enrolled in those programs will not have to travel to another jurisdiction for these enrichment opportunities. For these reasons, staff recommends that the City Council adopt the associated resolution authorizing the City Manager to execute the lease.