KANKAKEE — If the Kankakee Public Library was a four-chapter book, it would now have been condensed to three.

By a 9-0 vote at Tuesday’s Kankakee City Council meeting, council members gave their final approval to end its lease of the fourth floor of the Executive Office Centre, effective at the end of February, clearing the way for Gardant Management Solutions to take over the 12,907 square feet at its new home.

Heritage will reconfigure the fourth floor to meet Gardant’s needs.

Currently in about 22,500 square feet of space in the former Cigna property along U.S. Route 45-52 and St. George Road, the senior housing development and management company will be relocating into downtown Kankakee, effective July 1 following the redesign of the floor plan.

The fourth floor is largely used by the library as a community space. The city Economic & Community Development Agency also leases about 1,500 square feet on the fourth floor.

The ECDA is seeking other downtown space.

The library does not have that problem. The agreement notes that a series of 10-year leases will ensure that the location remains the library’s home until at least 2058.

The arrangement could last even longer depending on future lease extensions, Gardant and city officials noted on Tuesday.

Gardant has signed a 10-year lease agreement with Heritage Development Company, the owner of the 93,000-square-foot, 7-story office building in the heart of downtown Kankakee.

While the property is in possession of Heritage, it will become property of the city of Kankakee come Nov. 1, 2028, per the 25-year lease the city and Heritage entered into in 2003.

While the city moved into the office building in 2003, it didn’t begin leasing the fourth floor until 2008.

Mayor Chris Curtis said it is his mindset that once the property is deeded to the city, the city will seek a buyer. At this point, he believes the buyer will be Gardant.

The purchase price at that point in time is unknown. In general terms, Curtis estimates the Executive Centre has a value today in the neighborhood of $4.5 million.

According to the lease, Gardant will have a first-year lease of $210,364. Each year the lease will grow by 2%. By the 10th year, Gardant’s rent would be $251,736.

The value of the building is unknown until the city and Gardant seek a deal, of course. Each side will most certainly have appraisals completed and the price will likely be determined at some point in the middle of those appraisals.

The deal shrinking Kankakee Public Library space with new Executive Office Centre tenant Gardant has been in negotiations for about five months.

Per the agreement, following the 10-year lease, which expires in 2034, Gardant will have the first option to purchase the entire office building. At this point, Gardant appears to have every intention of making the building its forever home.

Formed in 1999, Gardant is now the nation’s fifth-largest assisted living provider.

Greg Echols, Gardant co-president, said after the council meeting that as assisted living needs continue growing nationally, he and co-president Julie Simpkins believe the company will see its growth trend.

“This is exciting,” he said after the meeting.

And he was also clear about the library remaining right where it is.

“We wanted a long-term relationship with the library,” he said of the negotiations.

Gardant’s departure from its current location, the former Cigna building, leaves the 155,000 complex empty. The property is owned by Hager Pacific Properties of Encino, Calif.

Gardant has been a tenant there for about five years.

Gardant employs 40 full-time workers at its site and operates in five states. In addition to Illinois, it conducts business in Indiana, Ohio, Maryland and West Virginia.