COLDWATER, MI (WTVB) – The Downtown Development Authority Board approved repayment and lease agreements for the former Taylor’s Stationers store Wednesday morning during a special meeting.
Efforts to relocate the Children’s Museum of Branch County to the store at 60 West Chicago Street in Downtown Coldwater continue even though it was announced during last month’s D.D.A. meeting the cost of the project was now roughly $464,000 which meant there was a funding gap following previous loan approvals. The project hit a financial snag thanks to the rising cost of materials.
Economic Development Coordinator Audrey Tappenden said the repayment agreement between the city and the D.D.A. would have interest free payments for one year after the funds are received from the city.
The Coldwater City Council approved a $350,000 loan to the D.D.A. in April.
Tappenden said the lease agreement between the D.D.A. and the Children’s Museum calls for no rent for six months after the Museum moves into the building.
As written, the lease would be for five years and it can be renegotiated after 60 months.
Tappenden said in her memo to the D.D.A. for Wednesday’s meeting that a majority of the exterior maintenance is now complete.
The D.D.A. owns the building after purchasing it in November of 2019 from Excel Realty Investors of Beechwood, Ohio.
It has been empty since Taylor’s Stationers closed in 2016 when business owners Howard and Lola Taylor retired.
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