By Leah Shaffer

Though the Eden Prairie City Council approved a year-long lease for Dunn Bros. to operate in the Smith-Douglas-More house, Council Member Brad Aho had some second thoughts recently.

“I wanted to go month-to-month originally,” he noted.

During the most recent council meeting Nov. 13, Aho expressed a desire to return to the issue at the Council’s next meeting.

However, since that time, franchise owner Ann Schuster has signed the new lease, which means it is too late to go back to the negotiating table, at least for a year.

Aho had been originally willing to renew the lease because he’s had some ongoing discussion with some community groups that might have interest in purchasing the property and keeping some public access to that facility. He still plans to pursue those leads though he does not know if a nonprofit organization (such as the Eden Prairie Foundation) will be able to take on such a commitment.

“I hope they can, because I’d like to see it remain some kind of a public use facility.”

Eventually, if a group like the Foundation took ownership of the building, Aho said the shop could be operated by high school students wanting to get business experience.

“… Yet keep it open for the public to use.”

Aho was not sure if he’ll find an organization that is able or willing to take on ownership of the building.

“That’s the challenge.”

Those at the Eden Prairie Foundation are looking at the idea, he said.

 “There definitely is some money out there, if they decide to do that,” he added.

Unfair move?

Eden Prairie Historical Society President Kathie Case was troubled by Aho’s attempt to bring back the issue after the lease agreement had already been sent to the franchise owner.

It was very unfair to that owner “to suddenly come up with another idea after everything had been decided,” Case added.“… Even talking about it now for next year, without giving her a fair chance to see if she can start making some money here.”

Both Aho and Mayor Phil Young have expressed a preference that the Smith-Douglas-More house not remain in city hands.

 “The lease is not a very good deal for the city in terms of the amount of revenue that it’s generating,” noted Aho.Under the new lease terms, the city will receive $33,250 in annual rent, down from previous net rent of $67,000. The city will net $12,000 total because it will also be paying taxes and for outside maintenance. The home was recently appraised and valued at $565,000 but neither the franchisee nor corporate Dunn Bros. was interested in buying it. The house, which is eligible for the National Register of Historic Places, was built in 1877 near what would be historic downtown Eden Prairie. The city originally purchased the house in 1981 for $140,000 from Earl and Helen More, and then renovated it in 2002. The business has been operated by current franchise owner Ann Schuster since 2006. At the end of this year the city will have collected just more than $322,000 in rent.

“She’s doing a wonderful thing for our community,” said Case about Schuster. “She’s got this great coffee shop. She’s running a business; she’s employing over 20 people and now has a business upstairs.”

In addition to Dunn Bros., Schuster has sub-leased space to a tutoring business, which will contribute about $15,000 in annual rent.“Everyone can go in the house and enjoy it and be a part of it and feel that Eden Prairie sense of history,” said Case.

Case compared it to the Garden Room the city owns and maintains.“It’s a business down there, and they help it. They make sure that it’s successful.”

She said the city should be doing everything it can to help Schuster make her business be successful.

“Because in the end, she’s paying off the city.”

One of the reasons the rent was lowered is to keep the business viable. In previous interviews, Schuster has stated that the lease was high compared to the revenue she brings in. Park of the problem is the loss of customers due to a lack of parking space. While approving the year-long lease, Council Member Kathy Nelson had suggested that staff investigate if private funds could be raised to improve the parking lot.

John Gertz, the city’s historic preservation specialist, is looking to see if any state grant would fund the parking expansion.

Case would like to see the city tap into capital improvement funds to take care of the parking lot.

“It’s to the advantage of the city to do it, because they can do it for a very inexpensive amount of money.”

The increased parking lot is going to give it more business, said Case. “So it will allow them to put the rent back higher if she’s making more money.”

Gertz said estimates for the costs of parking lot changes are in the $30,000-to-$40,000 range, which would include additional parking and removal of the workshop behind the store.

He said he’ll review a grant application and talk to the state about applying for the grant. If they give him an indication that it wouldn’t get through the process, the city won’t submit it.

“If they feel that it’s worth applying, we’ll go ahead and do it.”