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OGDEN, Utah (AP) -- The City Council has voted down the mayor's proposal to pay The Boyer Co. nearly $400,000 in annual lease payments to add two floors to a proposed four-story office building at The Junction development.
By a 4-3 vote Tuesday night, the council rejected the plan pushed by Mayor Matthew Godfrey's administration to increase the height of the building to provide more first-class office space downtown.
Under the proposal, the city would have paid the lease annually to Boyer until tenants were found to occupy the space. After that, the city would have received full lease revenues from the two floors until it recovered the amount it initially paid.
Council members Jesse M. Garcia, Rick Safsten, Dorrene Jeske and Amy Wicks voted against the proposal, while Bill Glasmann, Brandon S. Stephenson and Doug Stephens supported it.
Stephenson said the vote sends a message to business prospects that the City Council isn't confident in efforts to revitalize downtown. "It sends a signal ... that even we're not optimistic about what's happening in Ogden," he said.
Jeske disagreed, saying the vote shows that the City Council is committed to spending taxpayer dollars wisely.
"It sends a message that we care about citizens and are concerned about the needs the community has," she said.
Godfrey said there are no other plans in the wings to induce Boyer to add two more floors to the building.
Salt Lake City-based Boyer plans to begin construction this summer on the office building that will be part of The Junction, a multimillion-dollar retail, residential and entertainment complex.
Boyer's decision to build a four-story, 63,000-squarefoot building is based on a variety of factors, such as vacant office space in Ogden, according to Jeff Gochnour, a senior project manager for the company.
Wells Fargo may occupy the ground floor of the building, but no other prospective tenants have been identified by Boyer.
Dave Harmer, city Community and Economic Development director, said the building should be six-stories to serve as a landmark structure for The Junction.
He contended the city and Boyer would not have trouble leasing out the two extra floors because there is a lack of top flight office space in the Ogden area.
(Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
