Amazon.com Will Sublease From Cirrus, City

As Cirrus Design continues to appear to struggle, and with the company's sale to Chinese firm CAIGA still pending, the city of Grand Forks, ND, says the GA manufacturer owes them more than $1.7 million in back rent.

Cirrus leases 160,000 square feet from Grand Forks, and as the economy faltered over the past three years and Cirrus laid off more and more employees, it turned to the city to assist with its lease payments. Grand Forks, which had a major investment in Cirrus, agreed to make over $84,000 per month in lease payments from the city's general fund. Now, Urban Development Director Greg Hoover tells the Plains Daily newspaper that Cirrus is in arrears to the tune of $1,791,107. In all, he said, there are four loans involved in an urban development project of which Cirrus was a part.

As Cirrus shrank and needed less of the space, it again turned to the city to assist in finding a company to sublease the vacated warehouse. It found Amazon.com, but the space will require renovation into offices before the online retailer can move in.

Meanwhile, Hoover said that Cirrus will pay the city what it owes, plus interest, when (and if) the U.S. government approves the sale to CAIGA. But, he said, as of now, there is no repayment plan in place.

FMI: www.cirrusaircraft.com, www.grandforksgov.com