The Rio Nuevo Board this week unanimously authorized its chairman and secretary to sign the lease, when complete, with Caterpillar’s Surface Mining & Technologies (SM&T) division. The Board also issued Notices to Proceed that will allow Sundt Construction to start on the $43 million SM&T division headquarters project being built at the base of A Mountain.
The Board convened a special meeting Monday to review the Caterpillar lease because construction on the project needed to begin within a week to ensure that Caterpillar would have a certificate of occupancy by March 1, 2019, a deadline set by Caterpillar in the draft lease.
Under the draft 25-year lease, Rio Nuevo will issue the bonds for the construction project and Caterpillar will pay the principal, interest and costs. Interest will be capped at 3 percent for the first 10 years.
In addition, Rio Nuevo has acquired title to the property for the building for $7 million and will remediate the landfill at the site at a cost of $4.8 million.