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Resolution providing for the establishment of a Lease Agreement with the Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Garden for the City facility known as the Scaife Garage and associated property located at on Mellon Park Road adjacent to the public parking lot and the Garden Center Facility for an annual rental fee of One Dollar ($1.00) per year until May 31, 2031, with the possibility of renewal.
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WHEREAS, the mission of the Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Garden is to inspire and educate visitors with the beauty and importance of nature and to advance sustainability and worldwide biodiversity through action and research; and
WHEREAS, Phipps has undertaken a multi-year expansion project to upgrade and expand facilities, and to emphasize green and sustainable building practices and operations; and
WHEREAS, Phipps currently occupies certain premises located on Mellon Park Road and known as the Phipps Garden Center, under an existing lease with the City of Pittsburgh; and
WHEREAS, the City of Pittsburgh owns and currently occupies a building known as the Scaife Garage located on Mellon Park Road adjacent to the public parking lot and the Garden Center Facility. That 2,800 square foot two-story garage building has been used by the City of Pittsburgh’s Department of Public Works for staging and repairing equipment used to maintain the grounds in Mellon Park; and
WHEREAS, the City of Pittsburgh’s Department of Public Works no longer requires the Scaife Garage to carry out its activities, and the City of Pittsburgh wishes to take this opportunity to disinvest itself from the cost, effort, and liability of active possession of the Scaife Garage; and
WHEREAS, the Phipps plans to renovate the Garden Center Facility and wishes to include the Scaife Garage as part of its leased premises and these renovations, the plans for which envision creating a new entry portal from the public parking lot to the Garden Center Facility and reconfiguring the park site area of Mellon Park near the Scaife Garage to create an arrival area for visitors to Mellon Park; and
WHEREAS, the Phipps has requested that the Scaife Garage area be included as part of the premises leased by the City of Pittsburgh to the Phipps; and
WHEREAS, the City Of Pittsburgh is willing to accommodate that request, and the City of Pittsburgh and the Phipps wish to terminate the Existing Garden Center Lease and replace it with a new Garden Center Lease, thus allowing the Phipps to include the Scaife Garage area within the newly envisaged Garden Center;
Be it resolved by the Council of the City of Pittsburgh as follows:
Section 1. The Mayor and the Director of Public Works, on behalf of the City of Pittsburgh are hereby authorized and directed to enter into a Lease Agreement(s) with the Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Garden, in a form approved by the City Solicitor, for leasing the Scaife Garage located on Mellon Park Road adjacent to the public parking lot and the Garden Center Facility for an annual rental fee of One Dollar ($1.00) per year until May 31, 2031, with the possibility of renewal, with the right to use that facility as an integral part of the Garden Center renovation project. That Lease Agreement will be in a form approved by the City Solicitor and will contain those terms and conditions for the property of the City as the City Solicitor may require.