Houston Examines Charities’ Sweetheart Leases

City officials in Houston are looking into arrangements with several nonprofit organizations that have allowed the charities to occupy prime downtown real estate at an annual lease rate of just $1, reports the Houston Chronicle.

Questions arose about the lease deals when the city recently determined that two 99-year leases for two charities on a six-acre tract of land are invalid, the paper reports.

Mayor Bill White told the Houston newspaper that such subsidized agreements should only be entered into on rare occasions when an organization provides a service that the city considers essential.