By Kellen Olshefski
Correspondent
The City of Elkhorn Finance and Judicial Committee voted in favor of recommending to the full council the city retain Stuart Rosenberg of ICI Commercial as the city’s commercial real estate broker at its meeting Feb. 27.
After meeting with Rosenberg at the last meeting, committee members seemed pleased with the services he has been provided since the city again contracted with ICI Commercial.
City Administrator Sam Tapson said what seems to be the only concern at this point is the $600 stipend paid monthly to Rosenberg for his services. When it comes to the services provided by Rosenberg, Tapson said other brokers have “done no more than Stu,” and “probably far less, quite frankly.”
“We brought Stu back in because we weren’t satisfied,” he said.
Tapson said if the committee so wished, the city couldn’t certainly seek proposals from other commercial real estate companies. However, he said the city only has about a half-dozen parcels in the city’s business park.
Tapson said in working with ICI Commercial, he thinks the one advantage the company has over others has been that Rosenberg takes a much broader view of the community, looking outside of the city’s business park, than other brokers have in the past.
“I think that in ICI’s case, they’ve been better about being active with the city in a variety of projects that go beyond, maybe even working with the city on a couple of city-related efforts,” he said.
Tapson said he’s not dissatisfied with Rosenberg’s performance, though he noted with the $600 stipend equating to $7,200 per year, he understands why cost-conscious individuals might be concerned with it.
Alderman Scott McClory said Monday night that when the committee met with Rosenberg at its last meeting, he felt committee members came out of the meeting with a better understanding of what Rosenberg has been doing for the city. As such, he also noted he feels committee members came out with a collective thought that they would like to see more frequent updates from Rosenberg on what he’s been doing for the city and fill them in on what has changed since the last time they met.
Tapson said as an example, he was meeting with Rosenberg this week about a potential prospect, though as is the case with these types of meetings, he’s unable to give committee members any details about any deals.
McClory said even if a quarterly update wasn’t possible, he would like some kind of update, even if it’s just Tapson coming to the committee or council to keep them in the loop.
“Even if it’s just, ‘I’m meeting with Stu and a prospect. I can’t go into more details because of confidentiality,’” he said. “It would be good to know that … some of the stuff that he shared with us earlier this month, I was like, oh, I didn’t know that.”
While committee members agreed they’re pleased with the service Rosenberg has provided, the committee’s recommendation also comes with a slight caveat in the sense that committee members directed Tapson to discuss the specific details of the city’s contract, specifically the $600 stipend paid monthly, with Rosenberg.
Alderman Hoss Rehberg said he recognizes and understands the value that Rosenberg brings to the city. However, where he said he’s concerned is that he feels there needs to be some flexibility with the stipend.
“I think we need to look to Stu and maybe tweak our contract,” he said.
Rehberg said he understands providing the stipend if properties aren’t sold, as it helps to cover Rosenberg’s month-to-month operating costs. However, in the event that a property is sold and Rosenberg earns a substantial commission off of the sale of that property, he feels that in that case, maybe that stipend isn’t necessary.
“In previous years, where things didn’t sell and he’s out there pounding the pavement, but business aren’t moving and buying, OK, I can understand that,” he said. “I’ve seen his predecessor, I’ve seen what they did. I think Stu goes above and beyond. I just think that there needs to be some give and take here.”
Alderman Tom Myrin said having seen what the city had prior to Rosenberg, he agrees that Rosenberg is “head and shoulders” doing a better job. However, he too noted that Rehberg’s point concerning the $600 stipend might not be appropriate when Rosenberg earns a commission.
Rehberg said he understands that Rosenberg also needs to make money though.
“If he sells a property and his total commission is $7,200, well, then obviously the guy’s not making any money,” he said. “He has to be able to make some money.”
Rehberg said he just feels that it’s a conversation the city needs to have with Rosenberg, to see if the contract can be redrafted to some extent in a sense that will accommodate both items.
Rehberg also noted that after speaking with Rosenberg earlier this month, he feels that perhaps Rosenberg might be underutilized by the city, noting that there are things he feels the city could work more closely with him on so he has a better understanding of exactly what it is the city is looking to accomplish.
Tapson said he agrees with Rehberg in the sense that Rosenberg has been underutilized for the most part. He said he feels that the city could certainly involve him more, noting that Rosenberg has mentioned several things previously, such as marketing tools, though unfortunately there often times “becomes a disconnect there.” Tapson said what needs to be done is for Rosenberg to pull together a package for the proper group, be it the EEDA or Finance and Judicial Committee, that outlines these ideas, rather than just throwing the ideas out there.
“We need to have that well in advance of next January, we need it in the summer months so that if you’re going to budget, $5,000, $10,000 or $25,000 in an effort, it’s in your budget, it goes to that community development fund, we all know what it’s about and the money’s there,” he said. “If we were to make more frequent connections with Stu, I would do that no problem.”
The committee voted unanimously in favor of the city retaining Rosenberg and ICI Commercial and directed Tapson to discuss the details of the contract and the $600 stipend with Rosenberg.
