Clinton-Macomb Library Buys North Branch for $1.4 Million

With the ink still fresh on the paperwork, the Clinton-Macomb Public Library has purchased its home for a cool $1.4 million.

The Cobblestone Bridge office building, which houses the North Branch, had gone into foreclosure and was put on the market at almost half the original asking price.

The CMPL will use a 10-year installment purchase agreement to finance the cost of the building, which once paid off, will mean 100-percent equity for the library.

“There’s been a lot of news about the foreclosure crisis in Michigan,” said Larry Neal, director of the CMPL, in a release. “But this is one instance in which a foreclosure had a good outcome for local taxpayers. We were able to negotiate an excellent price on the building that will help us save $100,000 this year alone.”

The purchase is expected to save the library some $700,000 over the next 10 years.

The library’s original lease was signed in 2000, and it will celebrate its 10th anniversary in the 24 Mile Road location this August.

As a whole, the library is anticipating a 7 percent decrease in revenue, or about $300,000, in 2012 due to declining property values in Clinton and Macomb townships.

“Because of declining revenue we know that the next few years will be a little more difficult, but we’re committed to maintaining the same level of service that patrons expect from us,” said Michael Lotito, President of the Library Board of Trustees, in a release. “Purchasing the North Branch was a unique opportunity for us to get a great deal and save money in the process.”

In purchasing the building, the library will now be responsible for the other tenants in the building as well as facilities’ maintenance. The other four tenants that currently occupy the building will pay rent to the library.

While the CMPL currently rents the building housing the South Branch, it will soon own the Main Branch building as well.