IRVINE : Nonprofit Agencies Will Need to Relocate

Two dozen nonprofit agencies and charities that work out of the city’s Multiservices Center must vacate the facility by early next year, the City Council has decided.

Some of the groups could be relocated to city offices in the corporation yard. But other groups might have to find new quarters.

The council’s decision last week was designed to save money. The city, which offers center tenants rents well below market rates, loses about $65,000 a year operating the facility.

The Jamboree Road building needs earthquake retrofitting as well as $400,000 worth of repairs to the air-conditioning system. The City Council hopes to sell the building rather than make the repairs.

Center tenants fought to keep the facility open, saying the city was best served by clustering its nonprofit agencies in a central location. The groups provide such services as child care, drug prevention classes, temporary housing and family counseling.

But the council said it was not economically wise to operate the center. It set Jan. 31, 1995, as the date when all tenants should be out of the building.

Council members directed city officials to locate as many agencies as possible in vacant city office space. They also asked officials to examine whether the city might rent private office space and sublease it back to some of the charities.

“I don’t think we can make a long-term commitment to this building,” Councilman Greg Smith said. “But we can’t afford not to make a long-term commitment to these groups.”

City officials are now in the process of having the Multiservices Center appraised. The 40,000-square-foot building was appraised at $4.5 million several years ago--before the local real estate market slump. A preliminary appraisal conducted in June pegged the center’s value at $2.2 million.

Councilwoman Paula Werner said she hopes the city will work to keep the agencies’ rents as low as possible. She noted that the groups could lose grant money if they are forced to increase their administrative costs by paying higher rents.

“They are providing needed services for the city,” Werner said. “I think the city has a responsibility to help them.”