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BERKLEY — The marquee that stands tall over the city of Berkley in the heart of its downtown soon will have a transfer of ownership.
The Berkley marquee, located on 12 Mile Road between Robina Avenue and Wakefield Road, once housed a theater before it closed down in 1993, and recently it was the home of a Rite Aid.
After the theater’s closure, Berkley and the then-building owners entered into a lease agreement to allow the city to use the marquee’s message board to spread the word about community events and announcements.
Last year, Rite Aid announced that it would close all stores in Michigan, which left the block without its central tenant and left the owners of the building with the high costs of electricity that comes with running the marquee at night.
Because of this, the owners reached out to the city of Berkley to see if it could help cover the cost of running the marquee.
“Historically, the marquee has never been owned by the city, and I do think that it’s a common misconception that’s somewhat prevalent in the community because we have utilized it for so long, but it’s always been owned by those building owners,” City Manager Crystal VanVleck said. “My understanding is once the theater moved out … the city and the owners of that building entered into a lease agreement at that time for the city to use the marquee for messaging. During that time, there was always a tenant in there.”
At the March 17 City Council meeting, a new lease agreement was approved that will see the city continue paying $1 a year to use the marquee. In addition, the city agreed to pay a lump sum of $4,000 for the electricity from the months of December through the end of March.
“It’s a one-year lease and it’s just for using the marquee board,” VanVleck said. “So, we call it a short-term lease. It’s just for one year. There’s actually a clause in there. Either party can terminate within 30 days notice. The reason for the shorter term is because the future sale is unknown.”
Deno Bistolarides is one of the building’s owners for the last six years, which includes a couple of other tenants and two parking lots on the block. He stated the building is costly to own and estimates it costs $1,500 a month to run the marquee.
After a discussion with his ownership group, they decided they would sell the building and marquee.
“There’s five owners. Three of them are not real estate guys. So we just feel that the property’s got a lot of potential and the potential of which can be better harnessed by someone else,” he said.
The vacancy created this situation.
“When they don’t have their main tenant in there, it’s not making the money that it used to,” VanVleck said. “They used to absorb the cost of lighting the marquee without a second thought. And then when Rite Aid moved out, they went, ‘You guys, this is actually pretty expensive for us and we’re keeping it lit because you (the city) utilize it for messaging, but we would really appreciate if you could contribute to the cost to light it.’”
Along with the lease agreement approval, the marquee will be turned off throughout April as the city performs structural maintenance on the building. This includes the replacement of support beams and internal structural repairs, and is funded by the Downtown Development Authority. The city has maintained the marquee since its original lease.
“The attachment to the building is not a concern, but it’s just the internal structure of the marquee itself,” VanVleck said. “Those beams need to be replaced.”
Shutting off the marquee also will give the city an idea of how much it costs to run the lights, as multiple buildings are running on the same meter and the shutdown will allow it to compare electric bills.
This also, VanVleck said, will give time to get a better understanding of what the future relationship with the marquee will be.
“We don’t know who the next owner will be or who the tenants will be,” she stated. “The future ownership has not been fully worked out just yet and neither have the future tenants. So, all of those things are variables that affect what the city’s relationship with the marquee will be in the future.”
Bistolarides said there is a potential buyer for the building, but nothing is 100% and discussions are ongoing. He referred to the marquee and building as the centerpiece of Berkley.
“I drive by twice a day,” he said. “Frankly, I was praying that Rite Aid would stay so I could continue to own it long term, but now that Rite Aid is gone, I just think the potential is there, but I’m just not the guy to harness that potential for the property.”
