Report: Town to Lease Old City Hall for $1 to Startups

Murrieta, Calif. Photo courtesy of Creative Commons

February 13, 2012 By News Staff

For years, cities and states have offered tax breaks and other incentives to retain and attract high-tech businesses. Murrieta, Calif., is taking the concept a step further.

According to local reports on Monday, Feb. 13, officials plan to lease out Murrieta’s old City Hall building to local tech startups in the hope they won’t flee north to Los Angeles or south to San Diego.

The cost of the lease? A buck. The businesses will only have to pay their utility costs.

According to The Press-Enterprise newspaper, the city is seeking three or four startups to occupy the old building, and the city will spend $10,000 from a capital improvement fund to modernize the facility.

The plan is a part of Murrieta’s economic development strategy, officials said. Murrieta opened a new $13.5 million City Hall in 2008, according to The Press-Enterprise.

Murrieta, located in Riverside County, is home to more than 100,000 people.

To read more about Murrieta’s creative plan, read the The Press-Enterprise’s story here.

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Comments

Scotty | Commented February 14, 2012

Congrats to Murrieta! Sounds like a much better plan than what we have here in AZ, where we sold our state capitol to and lease it back from a private investor. I hope Murrieta is able to find and keep some quality startups.