4n The way to really fly

TO: Board of Directors DATE: May 24, 2017

FROM: Donald Orseno, Executive Director/CEO *

SUBJECT: Purchase and Sale of Easement Agreement with the Union Pacific Railroad Co.

RECOMMENDATION

Board action is requested to execute an amended Purchase and Sale of Easement Agreement with the Union Pacific Railroad Co. (?Seller?) for property for the proposed Peterson-Ridge commuter rail station, in the vicinity of West Peterson & North Ridge Avenues, Chicago.

BACKGROUND

On April 22, 2015, the Metra Board of Directors approved the Purchase and Sale of Easement Agreement between Metra and the Seller for the Seller' s property (?Subject Property?) needed for the proposed Peterson-Ridge commuter rail station on the Union Pacific North line. At the time, the purchase price for the Subject Property was $1,425,000. The purchase was being funded by a $10,000,000 grant from the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (IDCEO). Prior to acquiring the Seller's property, on June 30, 2015, IDCEO suspended the grant. Metra placed acquiring the Seller's property on hold.

IDCEO now has allowed Metra to spend $2,500,000 of the grant and Metra will use that for land acquisition. Pursuant to Commuter Rail Board Ordinance No. MET 14-19, Section 4.02(h)(2), amendments to contracts with prior Board approval require Board approval if the amount of the amendment exceeds l 0% of original contract' s approved amount. Metra and the Seller have agreed to a new purchase price of $2,040,000.

Based upon the 2014 Commuter Rail System Station Boarding/Alighting Count, there are significant ridership increases at the Rogers Park and Ravenswood stations, located on the Union Pacific-North line, Chicago. To address this growing demand Metra proposes to construct the new Peterson-Ridge commuter rail station. The proposed station will be located on the same line, approximately 2.5 miles north of the Ravenswood station and 1.3 miles south of the Rogers Park station, in the vicinity of West Peterson & North Ridge Avenues. The proposed station will occupy 89,773 square feet (2.06 acres) of land.

The proposed station will provide expanded service, more transit options, and increase the line's core capacity to help meet current and future travel demand. Once built, the proposed station will have improvements that will include new six-car platforms, warming houses, an access drive with drop-off and short-term parking, approximately fifty pay park-and-ride spaces, new entrance plazas, and bicycle parking. The station will be accessed by a combination of stairs and ADA compliant ramps. Both the ramps and stairs will be heated with glycol based heating systems to maintain function in winter months.

The Peterson-Ridge station has the support of local elected officials. City of Chicago 48th Ward Alderrnan Harry Osterman aided the project by assisting in the initial acquisition of a $10,000,000 Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (IDCEO) grant while he was a Representative in the Illinois House of Representatives. City of Chicago 40th Ward Alderman Patrick J. O'Connor has aided the project by providing support with City agencies and introduced a rezoning application with the City of Chicago City Council to rezone the property for the proposed station to a transportation zoning district.

The Subject Property, totaling 52,015 square feet (1.194 acres), runs along Ravenswood Avenue and is bounded on the north by Ridge Avenue, on the south by Thorndale Avenue (if extended) and is west of the Chicago Housing Authority (CHA)' s Harry Schneider Senior Apartments (?Subject Property?). The Subject Property is one of two parcels required for the proposed station (the other parcel is owned by the CHA). Metra has agreed to acquire from the Seller the Subject Property.

FISCAL IMPACT

The Seller and Metra have agreed to a purchase price for acquisition of the Subject Property of $2,040,000 ($39.22 per square foot), which is at Metra's appraised value. The purchase is entirely being funded by the $2,500,000 portion of the IDCEO grant that is currently available and there is no fiscal impact to Metra for this Agreement.

Funding for the overall station improvement project is currently uncertain. The remaining $7,500,000 of the IDCEO grant is still suspended. Other funds have not yet been programmed.

Prepared by: Anthony F. Ognibene, Director, Real Estate and Contract Management Alvin T. Terry, Real Estate Manager, Real Estate and Contract Management