Upside to downtown: City officials say progress being made – The State Journal-Register

Mary Hansen Staff Writer @maryfhansen

Magic Wade decided on renting a loft-style apartment above Caf Moxo because of its hard wood floors, the small number of neighbors in the building and its location in the heart of downtown.

Within a block, theres my hair salon, theres a coffee shop, theres a bunch of restaurants, said Wade, a 33-year-old assistant professor of political science at University of Illinois Springfield. Im able to spend whole days where I dont get in my car at all, which I really like.

The four apartments in Wades building are among an estimated 100 residential units that have been added to Springfields urban core in the five years since a study by a group of national urban design experts suggested downtown should provide 343 new dwellings.

The report from the Strategic Design Assessment Team, which visited the capital city in May of 2012, included recommendations on how to turn downtown into a vibrant residential neighborhood.

Five years later, significant progress has been made toward that goal, according to city officials, developers and those who participated in the study. In addition to the 100 new units, another roughly 70 apartments will be available to renters interested in living downtown in the next year.

Incentives

The TIF district has been crucial to revitalization efforts, said the citys economic development director Karen Davis.

State legislators extended the tax increment financing district late last year, which SDAT identified as a key financing tool to bridging the gap between what developers are willing to invest and the cost of renovating existing buildings into livable space.

The city created incentives and gave priority to residential development, Davis said, adding that many of the current projects are taking advantage of TIF money.

Specifically, she pointed to renovations at the St. George Building, 300 E. Monroe St., the Ferguson and Booth buildings, 524 and 518 E. Monroe St., and the former First United Methodist Church at Fifth Street and Capitol Avenue.

The church rehabilitation is another example of a suggestion taken from the SDAT report, according to Downtown Springfield, Inc. executive director Lisa Clemmons Stott.

The Greater Springfield Chamber of Commerce and the Springfield Project formed a community development corporation for the project, which the report recognized as a way to finance projects aimed at putting buildings that are most difficult to develop back into use.

Stott and Chuck Pell, a Springfield-based architect, were co-chairs of the SDAT follow-up committee that was charged with helping to guide implementation of its dozens of recommendations.

They say another success story is The Villas Downtown, the 79-unit apartment complex targeted to university and medical students.That Bluffstone LLC, the Iowa-based developer that built the Villas, went through with construction after the city rejected its bid for TIF money showed there was an untapped need for student housing.

The Villas was the first infill since Lincoln Square Apartments, Stott said of the newly constructed building on Madison Street. It was 25 year span since the last in-fill project.

Parking

The SDAT report acknowledged the need for a parking solution for both residents and visitors. It suggested parking meter leases for residents or designated spaces for those who live downtown to meet parking needs for residents.

If complaints about where to leave a car downtown are any indication, little progress has been made toward this goal. But some attempts have been made.

Downtown Springfield Parking, Inc. offers a 50 percent discount on monthly rates to downtown residents who commute to work outside of the citys core everyday, according to Pell who serves on its board.

For Stott, parking is a problem of perception because yearly parking studies show there are plenty of spots.

Less than half of the spaces available to the public, including on-street metered spaces and parking garages, are used on a typical weekday, according to a 2015 study by the Springfield-Sangamon County Regional Planning Commission.

One way to combat a perception problem is to give information, Stott said. I think the citys plan to do a parking app is the right strategy for this situation.

Mayor Jim Langfelder has said the city is looking into installing parking meters downtown that could accept credit cards, alert drivers when their meter is about to expire and even provide a map of available spots.

What comes first?

While the SDAT report estimated 343 new apartments are needed downtown, a housing market study by Bowen Research completed in 2013 put the number at 400. Either way, Stott says, theres still a need for more housing.

Were nowhere near what we think the demand would be, that studies have shown the demand would be, Stott said. Its not something we should be afraid of but something we should keep going for.

More housing could be coming. The citys request for proposals for the now-vacant YWCA block calls for 100 residential units on the 2.35-acre area.

The proposal includes ideas for an interactive plaza with an ice rink and amphitheater, which also addresses another SDAT recommendation, according to Davis.

It talks about family-friendly and interactive activities, thats certainly a part of the Y-block proposal, Davis said. Proposals are due May 15, and city officials hope the development will be complete in 2018.

Reaching a critical mass of downtown residents will spur other economic activity, according to Pell.

You have to put heads in beds and you hope that then translates to wanting services, Pell said. Those services could be a dry cleaner or a movie theater.

Wade, a downtown resident, would love to see a theater go in. But she said she understands its a difficult business to keep open if there arent many people to patron it.

So then, what comes first, the people or the amenities? she asked. I would probably just like to see more people like myself living downtown and walking around at a time that isnt just during the legislative session.

-- Contact Mary Hansen: 788-1528, mary.hansen@sj-r.com, twitter.com/maryfhansen.

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ACTION STEPS

The nearly 100-page Strategic Design Assessment Team report from 2012 included seven "Action Steps" for residential development, which the report labeled as a foundation for downtown revitalization. Here are comments for each and an update.

New financing tools

* Comment: "It is essential to find a way to replace the Central Area TIF (tax increment financing district) immediately, so that subsidies that will be required to build downtown housing over the next 10 years will be available."

* Followup: Central Area TIF extended in 2016 for 12 years.

Additional programs

* Comment: "While the Office of Planning and Economic Development has a great menu of financing programs that should be continued, additional programs should also be consider."

* Followup: No new programs.

Historic tax credits

Comment: "A 20 percent tax credit is available for buildings that are certified as historic, or a contributing building in a federally certified historic district."

Followup: District expanded in 2015 to include more than 80 additional buildings.

10-year property tax abatement

* Comment: "If the developer does not need to pay property taxes in the first 10 years, he/she will be able to borrow more money. If the City is forward thinking and provides the abatement, although they will have to wait 10 years, they will eventually reap the benefit of buildings on their tax rolls which might otherwise not be there."

* Followup: No action.

Parking solutions

* Comment: "It's time to come up with some parking solutions for developers and residents alike."

* Follow-up: Downtown Springfield Parking Inc. offers discounted spots at two garages and one surface lot to downtown residents who commute daily outside of the city's core for work.

Tackle the hardest buildings

* Comment: A Community Development Corporation with 501(c) status should be employed to tackle the toughest buildings, and the toughest projects."

* Follow-up: CDC formed in 2015 through partnership of The Springfield Project affordable-housing program and The Greater Springfield Chamber of Commerce; first project is conversion of former First United Methodist Church at Fifth Street and Capitol Avenue for residential-office space.

Creative activities

* Comment: "Plazas, recreational trails, links to parks outside downtown, a year-round farmer's market can all provide enrichment to residents, while at the same time providing a more enjoyable downtown experience for visitors."

* Followup: Bike lanes were added to Second Street between Laurel Street and downtown in 2014. The Illinois Realtors Association is moving forward with plans to build a Bicentennial Plaza, a landscaped pedestrian venue between Fifth and Sixth streets along Jackson Street.

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Upside to downtown: City officials say progress being made - The State Journal-Register