City to send Ellumilite eviction notice

Published 11:12 am Tuesday, June 25, 2013

Unless Ellumilite can pay its back rent, the lighted screen printing business will be kicked out of its facility.

The Austin Port Authority unanimously voted Monday afternoon to give a 30-day eviction notice to Ellumilite, which owes six months’ rent — about $19,745 — to the port authority.

Tom Dankert, city of Austin finance director, told port authority members the last time Ellumilite paid rent was for December 2012.

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“As long as they can get current on their rent, I would assume we would still rent to them,” Dankert said.

City attorneys previously notified the business about its defaulted rent.

Ellumilite has been in Austin for about a year as one of the first tenants of the 25,000-square-foot Robinson building, at 1805 14th St. NE, owned by the port authority and the Development Corporation of Austin. Ellumilite received a $100,000 loan from the DCA to start operations, along with a $100,000 from the city of Austin through state and federal funds, and a $50,000 loan from the Southern Minnesota Initiative Foundation.

Dankert said Ellumilite is also seven months delinquent on its loan from the city, and still owes $98,095. DCA Executive Director John Garry declined to comment on where Ellumilite was on repaying their loan.

Ellumilite gained national recognition earlier this year when it won the 2013 Buyers’ Choice Award at the EXHIBITOR 2013 conference in Las Vegas.

Ellumilite president Lori Anderson did not return calls for comment.

Getting the 123 on APC

The port authority also approved a motion transferring a long-standing lease to Bellisio Foods, Inc., when it buys the Austin Packaging Company’s operations.

The port authority owns the building housing APC operations, which Bellisio will take over once it finalizes a sale agreement with the receivership in charge of APC by July 3. Port authority members needed to approve the sale of operations in order for Bellisio to complete its takeover. Bellisio must also pay off remaining liens, strong water discharge bills and attorneys’ fees associated with the APC sale to the port authority.

 

—Adam Harringa contributed to this report.