City holding Phoenix Center deal town hall

Pontiac’s Mayor Deirdre Waterman is planning to host a town hall on Thursday, Feb. 18 about the new Phoenix Center public-private partnership.

The city is looking to close on a set of agreements by Friday, Feb, 26 that would create the new partnership between Pontiac and Chicago-based investment group Dearborn Capital Partners. It’s a $19.2 million deal that would see the city buy and then sell the two adjacent Ottawa Towers office buildings to Dearborn Capital, which would also manage the parking structure.

Waterman will be joined on the discussion panel by

Matt Gibb, special counsel for economic development, Bob Wuan, founder of DIRT Realty which brokered the deal and Linnette Phillips, director of the city’s economic development.

In a letter addressed to Pontiac City Council, Waterman stated this week that two changes to the original agreement will be added as requirements for the deal’s closing. The first is that Pontiac will no longer be listed as a co-borrower for a $6.3 million loan with Dearborn Capital from Chicago-based group T2 Capital Management.

The money is being used to purchase the Ottawa Towers. The second is that instead of a 50-year land contract for the Phoenix Center garage, the deal will go through as a cash closing.

Pontiac City Council requested that hard copies of all the documents included in the purchase agreements be delivered to them by Wednesday, Feb. 17. Discussion about the agreements was deferred until the council’s next meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 23.

The Phoenix Center town hall, which begins at 5 p.m. on Thursday, will be held in a Zoom meeting format. Details on how to join the meeting are below:

• Link: us02web.zoom. us/j/88160474090?pwd=N 3pHOVFPdE16WCt0UjQx ZG9YUVBjdz09

• Meeting ID: 881 6047 4090

• Passcode: 924356

• Mobile: 1-312-626-6799,, 88160474090# ,,,, *924356#