Economic Redevelopment

Community re-development is a busy activity in our town. The proposals for the Grand Hotel will be opened, the Lincoln Ave area is moving forward, and the City Commission just approved the submission of an application for the next round of Community Development Block Grant awards. Let’s take a quick review of these activities!

Grand Hotel

The City has received five proposals for re-development of the Grand Hotel. The City Commission has appointed a committee to review the proposals consisting of the following individuals:

• Robin Gibson, representing the Chamber’s CRA Steering Committee;


• Betty Wojick, Chamber Executive Director


• Jan Privett, Main Street Manager


• Tony Otte, City Manager


• Harold Gallup, City Economic Development Director


• Tina Peak, Library Director


• A representative of the City’s new Historic District Regulatory Board


• Don Martin of Martin Vargas (author of the recent downtown re-development plan), advisor

The proposals will be distributed to Committee members and opened at the Committee’s first meeting, which will be held at 1 pm on Thursday, October 9, at City Hall. Two additional Committee meetings have already been scheduled: Thursday, October 16, and Thursday, October 23, all at City Hall at 1 pm. All review committee meetings are open to the public, and minutes will be taken.

Lincoln Avenue Re-Development

Five years ago a meeting was held at the B Street Center to discuss the re-establishment of neighborhood commercial business activities on Lincoln Avenue. Al Hawkins, a member of the Green and Gold Foundation, summed up what was needed to be successful: the area has to be “clean, and safe”.

Since that meeting, the City has purchased or foreclosed on 8 land parcels in the Lincoln Avenue area, with additional parcels being considered. One of these parcels is the location of the Walker Building at the SW corner of Lincoln and C Streets, which is the largest commercial structure in the Lincoln Avenue neighborhood commercial area. The City has secured and painted the building using a color from the color palette selected for the area. Plans for the sale and renovation of the building are now being formulated.

The City has also demolished two dilapidated commercial buildings on Lincoln Ave, and has provided grants through the CRA to renovate the building front and exterior walls (“façade grants”) for four commercial properties, two on Lincoln and two on Wiltshire Blvd.

More recently, the CRA Board approved the opening of a police sub-station to serve Lincoln Ave and the surrounding area. The substation will supplement existing police efforts and will be staffed with three experienced police officers. This community policing initiative is another step to make the area safe.

CDBG Grant Application

The City Commission recently approved the submission of a grant application for the next round of Community Development Block Grant awards. In order to be competitive, this grant requires a match of City funds. The match is a City utility project that has been planned to bring better water service to the east side of downtown. If awarded, CDBG grant funds will be used for the following projects:

• Additional landscaping on Central, Stuart, and Park Avenues


• New lighting on Lincoln Avenue


• A parking lot near Lincoln and C streets


• New facades for three buildings on Lincoln Avenue

Re-development is an essential goal for our town. The City is working with the Chamber’s CRA Steering Committee, Main Street, and other interested parties to plan and complete re-development projects. Your interest and participation are welcomed.

More Project Updates

Last week in this space we reviewed a progress report on a number of high-profile projects, both public and private. There are other public projects underway as well, so let’s take a look at a few more!

Hardman Hall (the 1919 building)

Work continues on this project. The contractor has finished the masonry work on a section of the south exterior wall that was failing, and the wall was taken down and put back up using the same exterior bricks. The remodeling work funded by the Phase 4 historic preservation grant is now complete, and work on the Phase 5 grant should be completed by the end of June. The phase 6 grant is scheduled to start in July and will focus on the installation of drywall and other improvements on the first floor.

This $4.6 million project is being funded with a combination of grants, CRA funds, and donations, and work has progressed as grant funds have become available. As discussed at the public meetings held in the building last March, $907,236 has been secured toward the remaining $2,373,875 in project costs, leaving $1,466,639 yet to be raised. Dr. Gabe Statom has been hired to assist in the fund-raising efforts and to prepare the programming for the building.

Planning is underway for this building to become:

• The home auditorium of the Lake Wales Chorale and the Youth Chorale;


• A venue for concerts by a variety of artists;


• A music education center, reflecting the long tradition of musical excellence in school band performance.

You are cordially invited to join in these efforts that will have far reaching benefits for our community!

Rails to Trails

Funding for the second phase of the Rails to Trails project has been awarded by the Office of Greenways and Trails. The grant award of $200,000 is matched with $133,000 from City recreation impact fees, which are restricted funds that can only be spent on the expansion of recreation facilities. This section of the trail will be built from Kiwanis Park to an area west of Buck Moore Road. It is anticipated that the City will hire the contractor for this work with the contract forbidding the use of vibratory compactors. Again, per the ordinance adopted by the City Commission, contractors with unresolved complaints from City residents will not be eligible to compete for this work.

City staff is checking on the possibility of extending the contract with the asphalt company that is doing the City’s resurfacing work for the construction of the trail. A schedule for the project will be released at that time.

The design of this section of the trail will include the construction of a fence for a portion of the north side of the trail, as well as posts at certain points, to discourage motorized vehicle riders.

CSX Building

The former high school agriculture building on Scenic Highway near Kissimmee Ave is undergoing a facelift. The exterior of the building is being restored to its original look, and inside the restrooms have been renovated. A visitor welcome center room has also been created, to be staffed by volunteers, for area visitors and persons using the trail. The remainder of the building will continue to be used by the City’s parks and streets divisions for offices and equipment storage. Funding for this project is provided by a historic preservation grant which was matched with insurance proceeds that were used to repair hurricane damage.

Re-development activities on Lincoln Avenue

The Community Re-Development Agency has acquired several properties on Lincoln Ave over the past few years. One of these properties is referred to as the Walker Building at the corner of Lincoln Ave and C Street. The CRA’s re-development contractor, Kimbrough and Associates, is exploring the feasibility of using the building for apartments and offices. Recently the interior furnishings on the first floor were removed. In addition, both the Walker building and the barber shop building (under private ownership) were painted using colors from a palette provided by the architect hired to assist in this project. In addition, across the street from the Walker building, a new meat store has opened.

State of the City

On January 18 I will make my annual “State of the City” presentation at the Chamber of Commerce luncheon. This event will be held at the First Baptist Church at noon.

This year’s presentation will reflect the accomplishments of the past year but will focus on what we expect in 2008. The new year has the potential to be the most rewarding year in quite some time, as a number of projects that are being planned are scheduled to come to fruition. The areas of high expectation include downtown re-development, Lincoln Ave re-development, and City capital projects.

Downtown Re-Development

There are signs of a positive momentum beginning to take shape downtown:

• The renovation of old city hall is now well-underway, with a new branch campus of Polk Community College set to open in 2009;


• The Bullard building at Scenic and Stuart is being re-modeled at a sizeable cost to create office and apartment lofts upstairs;


• Tres Jolie has opened in their new location on Park Avenue with a substantial investment for its bakery, restaurant, and catering business;


• In anticipation of their mall lease expiring, Brenda’s gifts has opened a new store on Park Avenue;


• The Bank of America building has been sold to the 610 Corporation, a firm with holdings that include properties in downtown Winter Haven. Peterson Myers has leased the upper two floors and construction plans are being drawn. The third floor of that building has never been occupied!


• The City and the County have agreed to waive impact fees (except City water and sewer impact fees) in a “core improvement area” that includes downtown and the Lincoln Avenue neighborhood commercial district;


• The Chamber’s new CRA (Community Re-Development Agency) steering committee has hired Martin Vargas to do the first phase of a downtown study with a $25,000 donation from Richard Quaid, who purchased and just completed the remodeling of the north arcade. The study is scheduled for completion in February, and it is anticipated that some recommendations will be implemented immediately with CRA funds budgeted in this fiscal year;


• The City has received title to the Grand Hotel, and proposals for its use are being solicited with a deadline of March 31.

Lincoln Avenue Neighborhood Commercial Re-Development

There is progress being made in re-developing the Lincoln Avenue Neighborhood Commercial District:

• The first new business on Lincoln Avenue since the hurricanes is preparing to open! Massey’s Meat Market is located at 344 Lincoln Avenue, between C and D Streets;


• The Green and Gold Foundation operates a Farmer’s Market in the vacant lot at the SE corner of Lincoln Avenue and C Street on Fridays and Saturdays;


• The CRA has acquired the Walker Building at the SW corner of Lincoln Avenue and C Street and is working with an architect to explore re-modeling options;


• City staff is also exploring the feasibility of building a police sub-station at the corner of Lincoln Avenue and B Street with the help of an investor who is working with the Green and Gold Foundation.

City Capital Projects

The CRA Board, consisting of the City Commissioners, recently approved a $9.5 million bond issue for capital projects. The biggest single project will be street re-surfacing, with funds also budgeted for utility projects. All funds will be spent in the CRA area, which is generally the historic area of the City and includes downtown and the Lincoln Avenue/Northwest area.

Our town is welcoming the new year with great anticipation. Happy New Year, Lake Waleans!

The CRA

In this space two weeks ago the City Commission’s economic development initiatives were listed. Among these initiatives there were several references to the CRA – the City’s Community Redevelopment Agency. The CRA is the key to the City’s redevelopment efforts – downtown, on Lincoln Ave, in the Scenic Highway industrial area, in the residential rings surrounding these areas, as well as in the Longleaf Business Park and areas nearby. It is important to understand the organization of the CRA, how it is helping us, and what it will do in the future.

Organization

CRA refers to ‘Community Redevelopment Agency’, and its purpose is to address slum and blight conditions. Any city or county can adopt a CRA organization per state law Chapter 163, and there are currently 178 CRA’s across the state. The steps for adoption of a CRA include:

• The designation of a distinct area of the City as the CRA area;


• The adoption of a redevelopment plan that specifies how CRA funds will be spent. The plan must follow the guidelines in state law; and


• The designation of a base year.

In the base year, the total taxable value in the CRA is frozen for the length of time the CRA is adopted, usually 30 years. As taxable value in the CRA increases with development activity or increased assessments from the County Property Appraiser’s Office, the City and the County taxes on the increase above the frozen value in the base year go to the CRA.

The CRA is governed by a board, and in Lake Wales our City Commission also sits as the CRA Board.

How it is Helping Us

As noted above, the CRA achieves two important purposes:

1. It brings a focus to areas that are in need of redevelopment activities; and


2. It provides funding – from both City and County funds – that is restricted to the uses outlined in the redevelopment plan.

As noted above, the Lake Wales designated CRA area is quite large. By including undeveloped areas of the City (the Longleaf Business Park and the Mayfair development on south US 27), the CRA budget can be expected to grow dramatically. In the base year of 1999, there was no development on these two properties. Now the business park has seven buildings with a total taxable value exceeding $7.5 million, and the City and County taxes on these properties go to the CRA. Development in Mayfair is anticipated to begin soon, which will continue the growth of CRA revenues. Current year CRA revenues exceed $2.6 million.

CRA funding is used for development incentives and capital improvements (such as street, water, and sewer improvements), as well as the work of several staff members and consultants involved in redevelopment efforts.

What it will do in the Future

The CRA has partnered with the Chamber’s new Redevelopment Steering Committee, and it is anticipated that this partnership will bring a new focus to the CRA: the use of funds to finance improvements that will be specifically designed to facilitate the expansion of an existing business or the location of a new business in the redevelopment area. The expansion or new business will in turn result in a higher tax base, and the higher taxes paid will go to the CRA to pay off the debt that the CRA used to finance the improvement. The key to this effort is planning, and the first of several studies to identify projects and opportunities is now underway.

The future for redevelopment in Lake Wales is very promising!

Committed to Economic Development

"Economic development" is a broad term referring to efforts to encourage business growth –either the expansion of existing businesses, or the attraction of new businesses. The City Commission is committed to economic development and included it as one of the six foundation statements in the City’s Strategic Plan (available of the City’s website, in the budget section.)

This commitment is linked to the recognition that the tax base of Lake Wales is out of balance when compared to other similarly sized cities. The cities of Auburndale and Haines City both have a higher valued tax base than Lake Wales for commercial and industrial property. In addition, we want to provide career jobs for our residents... and for our children when they are ready to enter the workforce.

The City Commission has taken a number of steps to enhance economic development, with more to follow:

• The creation of the Longleaf Business Park. The park is an outstanding business address;


• The approval of the master plan for the Mayfair development. Across from Longleaf on south US 27, this development includes a commercial center and hotel;


• The vision for West S.R. 60. The area from West Central Avenue west to the railroad track is a future commercial/industrial area for the City. A new City water plant is being built at the airport to serve the area, and several industrial parcels have been annexed. The airport is a key factor, as improvements are being made that will help attract new businesses, and property on site not used for airport operations is being considered for potential industrial sites. Senator J.D. Alexander and the Airport Authority are advancing this project;


• Approval of commercial development around the Eagle Ridge Mall. These approvals include the new Chili’s and Lowe’s; the building of a new Hampton Inn and Suites across from the south entrance to the Mall on US 27, and an adjacent planned shopping development; and the approval of plans for a shopping area between the Publix center and Home Depot, and across US 27 at the corner of Thompson Nursery Road;


• Approval of the location of PCC’s (Polk Community College) branch campus downtown. The location of PCC in old city hall can also be viewed as an economic development project. A recent study of "great small towns" across the country noted that many have a downtown college presence;


• The partnership with the Chamber of Commerce’s new Re-development Steering Committee. The Committee is off to a great start with a $25,000 donation from developer Richard Quaid, to be use for one of several area-specific studies;


• Approval of funding to encourage neighborhood commercial uses to return to Lincoln Avenue. Kimbrough & Associates is facilitating this and other re-development efforts. A Farmer’s Market will soon open on Fridays and Saturdays at the corner of Lincoln and C Streets, and a building nearby is being renovated for a meat store;


• Approval of site plans for new business locations on Scenic Highway. Several businesses have opened in new buildings north of Burns Avenue;


• Consideration of a new industrial park. On September 18 the City Commission will consider the annexation of existing industrial property on Hunt Brothers Road, as well as adjacent property for a new industrial park with railroad access;


• Approval of funding for on-going Economic Development efforts. In addition to Kimbrough & Associates, Dolly Pelletier is the City’s full-time Main Street Manager; and the City’s efforts are anchored by Economic Development Director, Harold Gallup.