Mid-Size Cities. Smart Growth Redo of

Size: px

Start display at page:

Download "Mid-Size Cities. Smart Growth Redo of"

Ira Webster
5 years ago
Views:

Smart Growth Redo of Mid-Size Cities By Heidi Johnson-Wright REALTORS, planners, developers and nonprofits are working together to revitalize urban

1 Smart Growth Redo of Mid-Size Cities By Heidi Johnson-Wright REALTORS, planners, developers and nonprofits are working together to revitalize urban centers and create attractive Smart Growth neighborhoods Ballpark District, Memphis, Tenn. 38 ON COMMON GROUND SUMMER 2005 SUMMER 2005 ON COMMON GROUND 39

REALTORS, urban planners and developers are coming up with plans and incentives to revitalize urban centers.

2 Thea s Landing, Tacoma, Wash. From Tacoma to Memphis to Providence and beyond, people are rediscovering urban living. Yet that doesn t mean that mid-sized cities don t have to struggle to compete with the lure of the suburbs. REALTORS, urban planners and developers are coming up with plans and incentives to revitalize urban centers. Frequently, areas experiencing resurgences are centered on enticements that lure people back, such as dedicated affordable housing, adaptive reuses of old buildings and brownfield conversions. These types of jewels help transform crime-ridden, beleaguered eyesores into attractive, sustainable communities. Today, visitors to Tacoma, Washington s Foss Waterway find a prosperous residential and commercial sector, highlighted by Thea s Landing, a successful mixed-use development. Such was not always the case. Before the city of Tacoma acquired the Waterway in 1991, the area was owned by the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad. The railroad leased out parcels dotted with oil tanks and shipping warehouses. The 1970s and 80s brought an exodus of industrial users, resulting in a blighted brownfield that qualified as a Superfund site in The city saw the Waterway s potential, acquired it and invested considerable sums in cleaning it up. Public input via charettes and public hearings helped craft a community-wide, stakeholder-supported vision, which included the desire for retail, commercial and residential uses. The overall waterway development concept was approved during an extensive one-and-ahalf year citizen review process, where things like density, scale, open space and parks were considered, said Bart Alford, community initiatives supervisor with the city of Tacoma s Economic Development Department. Mixed use was key. The city didn t want just a nine-to-five environment; it wanted actual residents living there, Alford said. The city was also concerned about ensuring public access to the waterway. It held back a band of land anywhere from 20 to 100 feet in width for public parkways and esplanades. Tax incentives also played a role in the redevelopment s success. The developers benefited from a state program that waived property taxes for a 10-year period. Developers were also able to apply for up to $10 million in accelerated depreciation on buildings they built. Thea s Landing was a pioneering development for downtown Tacoma. It was risky yet exciting, said REALTOR Judy Mayfield, a Designated Broker for Carino & Associates Real Estate Services, who was the site sales manager for the Thea s Landing condos. New restaurants, coffee shops, galleries, the new Tacoma Convention Center, hotels and banks are popping up throughout downtown Tacoma. It is incredible! Mayfield said. Thea s Landing made history as the first development to include multi-family, marketrate housing in the neighborhood as well as in Tacoma s downtown core. This has attracted residents to the condos and studio, one- and twobedroom apartments with retail that includes a deli/coffee shop, a martini bar, a florist, an upscale dog supplies store and a frame shop. The convenience of local bus service, as well as the 40 ON COMMON GROUND SUMMER 2005

The tenants include young professionals, students, military personnel and empty nesters, who want to take advantage of Tacoma Opera and other cultural opportunities, said Angie Lausch, principal and

3 Memphis, Tenn. nearby commuter train system which connects to a light rail system linking the entire region, are also draws. There was no housing available before in downtown Tacoma; now there s urban housing, high-end and affordable. The tenants include young professionals, students, military personnel and empty nesters, who want to take advantage of Tacoma Opera and other cultural opportunities, said Angie Lausch, principal and property manager for Glacier Management, Inc., which manages Thea s Landing. Included among these opportunities is the Museum of Glass, which is connected to downtown Tacoma and its emerging cultural district by a 500-foot-long pedestrian bridge, created by renowned glass artist and Tacoma native Dale Chihuly. People have really welcomed the change, said Lausch, who explained that Tacoma has, in the past, had a bit of an inferiority complex compared to neighboring Seattle. Tacoma had always been second to Seattle in terms of an urban environment, she said. But with its now vibrant downtown and reborn waterfront, Lausch believes that Tacoma is coming into its own. Memphis is best known for the Blues and the King, but a minor-league baseball stadium anchored an urban comeback in the city of Beale Street, Sun Studios and Graceland. Memphis vibrant urban core that is now home to the Redbirds AAA franchise was once an area frequented only by adult movie patrons and downtown workers seeking daytime parking. Although the downtown had been rebounding some since 1981 when the historic Peabody Hotel reopened, (i)t was the ballpark that poured jet fuel on this, said Frank Ricks. Ricks is principal of Looney Ricks Kiss, the architects and designers of record on the ball park project, as well as other projects in the surrounding district, including dense, low-rise apartments, some with ballpark views. Initially, Redbirds co-founder Dean Jernigan wanted to build the home for the franchise in the suburbs. Co-founder and wife, Kristi, pushed instead for downtown Memphis. Three factors brought about the turning point, said Carol Coletta, host of public radio talk show Smart City and president of Coletta and Company, a firm that specializes in civic project development and execution, process design and facilitation, marketing and public relations. The dynamic couple driving the team (the Jernigans) favored the downtown location. The city and county mayors and council were behind the decision to locate downtown, so there were no political figures angling for it to be in the burbs. And the business community was supportive, said Coletta, who lives in a downtown Memphis loft. A 25-year property tax freeze and a Federal Historic Rehabilitation Income Tax Credit helped Mixed use was key. The city didn t want just a nine-to-five environment; it wanted actual residents living there. SUMMER 2005 ON COMMON GROUND 41

This was an atypical situation. Because this was a largely privately-financed project, the public was not an active participant in the process, said Ricks.

4 lower initial development costs. The city and county contributed $8.5 million to finance the land purchase. The city also donated in-kind to the project in terms of infrastructure and relocation of utilities. But the lion s share of the project s funding was procured by the Jernigans. This was an atypical situation. Because this was a largely privately-financed project, the public was not an active participant in the process, said Ricks. That s not to say that garnering public support didn t play a role. Since groundbreaking preceded procurement of all of the financing, Memphisites generally viewed the big muddy hole in the ground that sat fallow for a year with skepticism. The ballpark is a community gathering spot that the city didn t have before. A local alternative newspaper sponsored a contest to suggest how to fill in the hole. One suggestion was to put a group of Elvises in the hole and make it a tourist attraction, Coletta said. Not only is AutoZone Park itself a triumph, but it has spurred further infill and renovation in the downtown core. This includes the Peabody Place entertainment and retail center, a riverfront master plan and FedExForum, a $250 million basketball arena also designed by Ricks firm that is home to the Memphis Grizzlies NBA team. Memphis legendary Beale Street runs between the two sports centers. The ballpark is on the street; right up to the street, no setback. In the heart of downtown. There s a public plaza on the main corner with a huge oversized ballplayer over the entrance. The ballplayer became a landmark, an icon, said Coletta. Ricks agrees that the jumbo ballplayer dubbed Nostalgia Man has reached iconic status, and contributed to the park becoming something of a town green for the city. The ballpark is a community gathering spot that the city didn t have before that common place, he said. In Providence, Rhode Island s downtown in the early 1990s, there was no common place where people gathered. The classic, old department stores had closed their doors and the banks moved away. No one was living downtown since virtually no residential units were available. A partnership of forward-thinking business and civic leaders, however, saw the untapped potential. With the city s support, they hosted charettes tasked with envisioning a new future for the city s downtown core known as Downcity. Community stakeholders and elected officials came up with a redevelopment plan resulting in recommendations for urban design, parking and 200 residential units needed to support retail busi- 42 ON COMMON GROUND SUMMER 2005

Now there are people where there were none. You can just feel the change. nesses and achieve a level of activity that leads to a self-perpetuating revival.

An architectural jewel accented with swags, garlands and cornices, it was built in 1898 as a department store. In 1929, it became a mall of small shops.

5 Now there are people where there were none. You can just feel the change. nesses and achieve a level of activity that leads to a self-perpetuating revival. To provide residential units, redevelopers were motivated to invest in historically significant properties such as the Alice Building. An architectural jewel accented with swags, garlands and cornices, it was built in 1898 as a department store. In 1929, it became a mall of small shops. When the building closed in the late 1990s, it had just one tenant. When the building s redeveloper, Cornish Associates, L.P., purchased the Alice Building, it could see the building was perfect for loft style apartments with first-floor commercial uses. When we first explained what we intended to do, people looked at us like we were a little crazy. But public support was generally there early on, said Douglas Storrs, senior associate at Cornish. We convinced the business leaders and kept them updated on the projects. They invested political capital and supported us. We negotiated tax stabilization agreements with the city that set a lower tax rate in the early years of the project. The city gets less revenue early on, but sparks development, Storrs said. The demographics of the Alice Building residents have proven very diverse. They include graduate students, downtown workers and people who work from home, as well as older folks who have primary homes outside of Providence, but come into the city for performing arts and entertainment events. A significant number of people that live in the Alice Building s loft units are sole-source proprietors lawyers, architects and use them as live/work units, Storrs said. Storrs is a fan of the federal historic tax program. It s a very good program that can be replicated on the state level. You invest money in the building, and then you receive tax credits. You then sell the tax credits to corporations from which you receive funding. The State of Rhode Island has also adopted a state historic-tax program, he said. Since Downcity is a designated historic district and an arts and entertainment district, it attracts a creative community. If an artist produces a product in the district a painting, a sculpture and sells it, he doesn t have to pay a state sales tax on it. In a 10-year span, downtown Providence has experienced a major renaissance. The Alice Building is but one of a group of older, historically-significant buildings to be converted to mixed use. No longer a blighted area, downtown is a thriving urban core with housing, jobs and cultural amenities. The first floor of the Alice Building has commercial tenants which include a restaurant that s a coffee shop in the morning, a sandwich shop at noon and a jazz club in the evening. There s also a book store and a gallery. Within the same block, five buildings have been redeveloped as mixed-use residential with first-floor commercial. A sixth is currently in process, which will result in the creation of over 200 apartment units, said Stephen Durkee, principal partner with Durkee, Brown, Viveiros & Werenfels, the architects of record on the Alice Building. Nearby, other businesses, such as upscale restaurants and a boutique hotel, have started up. Now there are people where there were none. The lights are on. You can just feel the change a new level of energy. It all started because of the first few projects, said Durkee. Now Providence is a 24-hour city. Heidi Johnson-Wright frequently writes about Smart Growth and sustainable communities. She and her husband live in a restored historic home in the heart of Miami s Little Havana. Contact her at: hjohnsonwright@yahoo.com. The Alice Building, Providence, R.I. SUMMER 2005 ON COMMON GROUND 43

For Sale Alhambra Boulevard, Sacramento Urban Infill Redevelopment Opportunity Almost an Entire City Block

For Sale Alhambra Boulevard, Sacramento Urban Infill Redevelopment Opportunity Almost an Entire City Block C STREET C STREET 30TH STREET CHINATOWN ALLEY D STREET D STREET ALHAMBRA BOULEVARD CALL FOR OFFERS - DUE BY 5:00 P.M., FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2016 The sale of the former Mary Ann s Bakery site, located between