Personal benefit for Councilor Jessika Loyer’s private businesses in public building

A personal benefit to the business interests of City Councilor Jessika Loyer (formerly Mayor Jessika Buell) emerged when she was awarded a commercial lease agreement to operate her two businesses out of an office space that’s also leased by the City of Durango.

Mayor Jessika Buell at City Council Chambers.

Loyer is a City Councilor for the City of Durango in Colorado.

Specifically, Loyer operates her business Lucky Services and Marketing Concepts Squared out of the second floor of Durango Welcome Center at 802 Main Avenue in Durango, according to their respective websites, state records and employees in the building.

Concurrently, the City of Durango rents the entire building to Durango Area Tourism Office, the Business Improvement District and Fort Lewis College. Durango Area Tourism Office, also known as Visit Durango, then rents part of the building to Jessika Loyer.

To clarify, Loyer is paying Visit Durango/Durango Area Tourism Office $1,500 dollars per month in rent for 1,245-square feet of commercial space, said Rachel Brown, Visit Durango‘s former Executive Director. The rental includes four individual offices with a large common space and use of the Welcome Center‘s bathrooms, kitchen, wifi and basement storage.

Financially, Loyer appears to be paying about $14.45 dollars per square foot/year. Conversely, the La Plata County Assessor’s Office 2022 data shows that the median rent for the entire Central Business District in Durango was $23.48 dollars per square foot/year. Specific to the 800 block where Loyer’s office is located, the median rent there from 2024 was $17.72 dollars per square foot/year. LoopNet.com says that the average cost of leased commercial space in Durango is $25 dollars per square foot/year.

Moreover, the City of Durango leases the entire Durango Welcome Center building with public tax dollars.

In this case, an employee in the Durango Welcome Center named Isabella said that office space on the second floor of the building is occupied by Lucky Services.

Lucky Services is a business with employees that runs errands, cleans properties and walks dogs.

Marketing Concepts Squared offers the service of content creation, social media marketing and management, according to its Google listing.

When I visited Durango Welcome Center, Loyer entered the hallway from the back door, and then went upstairs to her office. When she came downstairs I asked her if she had an office there. Loyer said, “you submitted a records request about that; you should know.” Loyer then scurried out of the building quickly and refused to talk to me.

Visit Durango‘s Public Relations Manager Rachel Welsh refused to answer questions about who occupies the second-floor office space of Durango Welcome Center and then hung up the phone on me.

Buell and her businesses missing from city’s master lease and sublease agreements

Jessika Buell and her businesses are not listed as a subtenant or sublessee on the master Lease Agreement or the Sublease Agreement between the City of Durango and Durango Area Tourism Office for the Durango Welcome Center.

Durango Welcome Center.

The City of Durango rents the building at 802 Main Avenue from Griffith Properties LLC, which is a business of Robert Griffith.

Of relevance in the master Lease Agreement is a section on the tenant’s right to assign or sublet, which says:

“Other than initial subtenants Durango Area Tourism Office, Durango Business Improvement District, and Fort Lewis College, Tenant shall have no right to sublet the Premises or any part thereof. Tenant shall not encumber, assign or otherwise transfer any right or interest in this Lease Agreement without the prior written consent of Landlord, which consent shall not be unreasonably withheld; provided, however, that Landlord may condition its consent upon: whether Assignee has sufficient financial capacity; sufficient business experience, and/or financial matters; payment of sufficient security deposit; reimbursement for all costs incurred by Landlord in connection with such assignment. An assignment, subletting, transfer, encumbrance, concession or license without the prior written consent of Landlord shall be void and shall constitute a breach of this Lease Agreement.”

Who’s not listed as a subtenant on the master Lease Agreement are Lucky Services, Marketing Concepts Squared or Jessika Buell.

The City of Durango signed a 34-month lease with Griffith Properties LLC that’s slated to run to December 31, 2024.

This year, the City of Durango has been paying $6,280 dollars per month for the facility, according to a City of Durango invoice for the Welcome Center Lease.

Rent for the first ten months of the initial term was $5,921 dollars.

Subsequently, the lease says that the monthly rent payments will increase annually.

“On January 1 of each year during the Initial Term, Rent shall be increased to an amount equal to 103% of the Rent paid during the prior 12 month period.”

Furthermore, Buell and her businesses are not listed as a subtenant or sublessee on the “Durango Welcome Center Sublease Agreement.”

In a public records request to the City of Durango I requested  a copy of the City of Durango’s (Sublessor) “prior written consent” document that authorizes Jessika Buell or her businesses (Lucky Services and Marketing Concepts Squared) to occupy the office space at 802 Main Avenue (Durango Welcome Center), pursuant to the “Durango Welcome Center Sublease Agreement,” in number 18 (a).

In the Sublease Agreement, number 18 (a) Assignment and Subletting states:

“Sublessee is prohibited from assigning or subleasing its rights in this Sublease or any interest in the Subleased Premises. Sublessee shall not encumber, assign or otherwise transfer any right or interest in this Sublease without prior written consent of Sublessor, which consent may be withheld at the sole discretion of Sublessor.”

On behalf of the City of Durango, Mark Morgan may have consented to the Durango Area Tourism Office subleasing the office to Jessika Buell by saying “All good. Thanks for the follow up,” in response to an email from former Visit Durango Executive Director Rachel Brown.

Buell’s use and occupancy of the building for operating her private business would potentially provide her a personal benefit as a thing of value.

Personal benefit documented on Buell’s website, Google listing and Periodic Report

In particular, Loyer documented her use of the city-leased property for the office of her businesses in at least three areas.

First, her websites and Google listings both show the 802 Main Avenue as the address.

Furthermore, 802 Main Avenue is also listed as the principal office address for Lucky Services on the Periodic Report that’s filed with the Colorado Secretary of State.

Additionally, a picture of Durango Welcome Center appears on the Google listing of Lucky Services.

Does Loyer accept the service or personal benefit of occupying office space in a city-leased building as a result of her official status as mayor when the office space is unavailable to the public generally?

Obviously, Loyer’s refusal to talk to me about the office does not look good for her.

Moreover, City of Durango “Public Information Officer” Tom Sluis has also not replied to my questions about the office space.

A staff member at the front desk of Durango Welcome Center showed me a flyer for Lucky Services when I asked if they knew of any local businesses that would pick up groceries from the store for me:

Jessika Buell derives a personal benefit from the staff at Durango Welcome Center referring the public to Lucky Services and Buell who is in the office there.

Durango Welcome Center appears to be a public building

In this case it appears that the Durango Welcome Center is a public building since it is operated and controlled by the state or its political subdivisions.

In People v. Rediger, 2015 COA 26, 441 P.3d 907, aff’d in part and rev’d in part on other grounds, 2018 CO 32, 416 P.3d 893, the court found that the phrase “public building” is unambiguous. The court stated that section 18-9-110(1) makes clear that the statute applies to “any public building owned, operated, or controlled by the state, or any of the political subdivisions of the state or at any building owned, operated, or controlled by the federal government.” Id. at 911.

Based upon this definition, a public building can be created by either the state owning, operating, or controlling the building.