For 40 years, the group that leases the land that hosts the Marriott Hotel, an office building and parking garage in downtown East Lansing has paid just $10 per year for the property.
The city agreed to the minuscule 40-year land lease agreement to encourage development downtown and have the parking garage constructed. The $10 agreement expired in March of this year, and city officials have long viewed a new lease agreement as a low-hanging boost to the city budget. However, documents East Lansing Info viewed at Veteran’s Memorial Circuit Court in Lansing show a new land lease for the property is the subject of litigation – with more than half a million dollars of annual income for the city coming into question.
A complaint filed by University Place Associates Condominium Association, which leases the land from the city, requests that a judge determine the amount of rent that is to be paid on the land…