Moving city hall to Proctor’s created two immediate problems at the old location. The city owed its current landlord, First Columbia, $226,807 in Common Area Maintenance fees from 2024. Carmella disputed the CAM math but acknowledged the bill was unpaid. More seriously, First Columbia’s attorneys argued the city had already missed the deadline to exercise its early-exit option. Troy could be trapped in its River Street lease through January 2029, two years past the planned move date.
How It Started
The city signed a new lease with First Columbia in July 2024, backdated to January 1, 2024. The new lease included CAM charges approximately four times higher than before. The city paid rent throughout 2024 but refused to pay the elevated CAM charges, arguing proper notice had not been given under the lease’s terms.
Two separate notices of claim followed: one for the alleged lease termination, one for the unpaid CAM charges. Total exposure: more than $1.6 million.
At the November 20, 2025 Finance Meeting, resident Noreen McKee asked for clarification. The council did not provide a full answer from the floor.
The Settlement
Corporation Counsel Morrissey announced a settlement that same night. The city would pay $134,000 in 2024 CAM charges, the full disputed amount, without interest or penalty. In exchange, the city would support First Columbia’s application to the Troy IDA for a 10-year PILOT extension.
Council Member Brosnan was not satisfied: “If there were no dispute, there’d be no need to settle the claim.” He noted the council had approved the July 2024 lease that created the very CAM dispute now being settled.
Council President Steele abstained, citing her IDA board membership. Council Member Vera voted no. The settlement passed 5-1-1.
Carmella activated the termination clause on the Hedley Park Place lease on May 30, 2025, before the council had formally approved a new site. The dispute followed. Steele had warned about it earlier that summer: the city risked paying two leases simultaneously.
She was right.
Sources: CBS6, News10, WAMC, Troy City Council Finance and Special Meeting, November 20, 2025 (transcript)