The Lease Policy governs:
All departments
Council approval:
Last revised: April 16, 2004 Council Action 2004A-0268
This policy is part of the Real Estate Transactions Policies.
The City of Minneapolis (hereafter "City") recognizes the need for a policy guiding the leasing transactions of the City. Leasing typically occurs due to the need for additional space or due to excess space that is available or intended for leasing usage. Through this policy, the City assigns the responsibilities connected with the leasing program and incorporates the development-related business lines of the newly created Community Planning & Economic Development (CPED) department into the City policy.
Upon approval by the Council, and under the coordination of the CPED Director with respect to development property and the City Engineer with respect to other City property, or their designees, the City may lease City-owned real estate to government or non-governmental entities. Every such lease for a term of more than one year must be a written contract requiring formal Council approval. The contract must be signed as follows:
Each such lease must state the financial or other consideration involved with the lease. When appropriate as determined by the City Engineer, the CPED Director, or their designees, a competitive process must be used to identify the leasing arrangement that provides the best value for the City, considering the most important financial and non-financial factors. The City Engineer's staff or the CPED Director's staff, as appropriate, will serve as coordinator of the lease during the life of the lease. See 2.5 for short-term leases involving training purposes.
Subject to delegation of authority pursuant to City Charter chapter 4, section 25, the CPED Director with respect to development property and the City Engineer with respect to other City property, or their designees, may enter into leases of less than or up to one year using a standardized lease form. The standardized lease form for the City as a Short-Term Landlord will be developed by the City Attorney's Office, Public Works Property Services and the Contract Management Office. The financial or other consideration involved with the specific lease must be identified in the contract. If a non-standardized lease is used, formal Council approval and document execution as identified in 2.1.1 of this policy are required. The department that enters into the lease will provide all lease management activities. See 2.6 for very short-term facilities use permits. See 2.5 for short-term leases involving training purposes.
Upon approval by the Council, and under the coordination of the City Engineer or designee, the City may lease real estate from government or non-governmental entities. The department with the need for additional space will be identified hereafter as the "leasing department". Every such lease for a term of more than one year must be a written contract requiring formal Council approval. The contract must be signed as follows:
Each such lease must state the financial or other consideration involved with the lease. When appropriate as determined by the City Engineer or designee, a competitive process must be used to identify the leasing arrangement that provides the best value for the City, considering the most important financial and non-financial factors. The City Engineer's staff will serve as coordinator of the lease during the life of the lease, with the leasing department providing day to day lease management activities.
Subject to delegation of authority pursuant to City Charter chapter 4, section 25, the City Engineer or designee(s) may enter into leases of less than or up to one year using a standardized lease form. The standardized lease form for the City as a Short-Term Tenant will be developed by the City Attorney's Office, Public Works Property Services and the Contract Management Office. The financial or other consideration involved with the specific lease must be identified in the contract. If a non-standardized lease is used, formal Council approval and document execution as required by 2.2.1 of this policy are required. The leasing department will provide all lease management activities. See 2.5 for short-term leases involving training purposes.
Occasionally, there may be service providers or other entities that need to have short-term access to City real property for appraisal, survey, testing, inspection or similar purposes. Alternatively, the City may occasionally require short-term access to non-City real property for appraisal, survey, testing, inspection or similar purposes. A standardized right of entry form as approved by the City Attorney's Office will be used in these situations and each right of entry is subject to approval by the CPED Director with respect to development property or activities or the City Engineer with respect to other property or activities, or their designees. All other access to City real property should be handled through the lease process in 2.1 and all other use of non-City real property should be handled through the lease process in 2.2, unless the circumstances fit one of the exceptions listed in sections 2.4, 2.5, 2.6 or 4.0.
Obstruction permits, encroachment permits, special permits and other similar types of permits are not considered to be leases for the purposes of this policy. Those permits shall continue to be administered through ordinances, policies and procedures separate from this Lease Policy.
The CPED Director with respect to development property and the City Engineer with respect to other City property, or their designees, may sign temporary easements, plats, zoning applications and consents, and similar real estate documents that are not contractual in nature. Persons who are in positions identified on the positions authorized to sign contracts list may sign documents as the department head for use of City facilities or non-City facilities for conference or training purposes as long as the period of use is two months per year or less.
A City-wide facilities and land use permit process will be established for private use of City facilities and/or land for up to one week. A fee schedule and procedures will be established and updated by the CPED Director, the Finance Officer and the City Engineer. Each facilities and land use permit must be approved by the CPED Director with respect to development property or the City Engineer with respect to other City property, or their designees.
The Mayor and City Council will establish any new lease policies for the City and approve leasing arrangements as required by this policy.
The City Engineer will designate staff to:
The CPED Director will designate staff to:
The City Finance Officer will designate staff to:
The City Attorney will designate staff to:
Department heads must determine space availability or needs, provide direction on lease issues, and assign staff to provide day to day leasing management activities for their leased space. Department heads are responsible for ensuring that leasing practices are consistent with City policies and procedures.
This policy supercedes any and all previous City leasing policies. Further, the transactions listed below are not subject to this policy.
For list of positions who can sign contracts, see Authorized Signatories in the Finance section of CityTalk.
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