Claremont Creative Center Pays Arrears, Easing Development Authority Financial Woes

Andy Lafreniere, president of the Claremont Development Authority, told a joint meeting of the City Council and the Development Authority last week that all arrears in taxes, rent and a loan repayment owed by the Claremont Creative Center had been paid, closing a financial gap that had pushed the authority to the edge of crisis.

The turnaround came after Claremont Creative Center Executive Director Melissa Richmond said the nonprofit received $200,000 in grant funding, allowing CCC to get two months ahead on rent at 56 Opera House Square and on payments toward a $220,000 loan from the Capital Region Development Corporation in Concord. The payment update was only briefly mentioned at Tuesday's joint session, where Richmond was not present.

The resolution stands in sharp contrast to the picture painted at a February council meeting, when Mayor Dale Girard said resolving the development authority's financial situation was unlikely without the city's backing. A written assessment from someone identified only as Bates, whose title was not disclosed at the meeting, had warned: "Given the payment history and the tenant's claims of no funds, it is unlikely the CDA will receive all the arrearages before the 60-day remedy period is over, thus further complicating the CDA's position."

Richmond had signaled the turnaround was coming. In February, she told the council she expected to receive a portion of a $2.3 million federal grant awarded to the project and planned to use those funds to cover what she described as more than $8,000 in owed payments. "So everything is about to be resolved," she said last month. The $200,000 she ultimately received exceeded what was needed to clear the arrears, leaving CCC two months ahead on its obligations.

The Claremont Development Authority owns and manages several downtown properties, including the Opera House Square building where CCC rents space. With the tenant now current on taxes, rent, and loan repayments, the prospect of a city financial rescue for the authority appears, for now, substantially less likely.