City Beat: $10M project tied to 74-acre Galloway plan

Councilman Craig Hosmer was ready to pounce on the Galloway Village plan.

Hosmer, who has been a vocal critic of tax abatements since the attorney and former state House of Representatives member was elected to council last April, had a laundry list of questions for the parties involved in drafting the 74-acre redevelopment plan.  

“You know I’m a big fan of property tax abatement?” Hosmer asked, tongue in cheek, during the April 14 Springfield City Council meeting.

His queries sought to determine who would be eligible to receive abatements on improvements, whether it was consistent with the city’s policies to declare an area blighted outside of the urban core and just how much developers stand to gain in tax breaks if the plan is approved.

“West Springfield has house after house after house that meets this definition of blight. We give these property tax abatements to some of the wealthiest people in Springfield,” Hosmer said, adding he feels abatements generally hurt taxing districts. “To me, it seems we should be doing something for these communities where the average homeowner needs help.”

Springfield Economic Development Director Mary Lilly Smith said all 41 property owners in the Galloway area were eligible for 10 years of property tax abatements on improvements that cost more than $100,000.

As a community that was founded independently in the 1880s before joining Springfield about five decades ago, Smith said Galloway Village is suffering from a number of blighted conditions and is an appropriate fit for tax abatements.

The net effect for apartment developer Sam M. Coryell, whose development proposal prompted the blight initiative, is roughly $67,000 a year in abatements on seven acres where he wants to build a $10 million, multifamily complex dubbed Township 28.

Coryell, executive director of TLC Properties, said council’s approval would pave the way for the project south of Sequiota Park. He has owned the property since 2008 but wasn’t able to start building, partly because of the high cost of developing in the area.

“There were several roadblocks, including the cost-prohibitive nature of the land,” Coryell said, noting steep inclines and rocky soil near the park made development a more-expensive proposition than he realized, and a sluggish economy also stalled plans. “We kept getting ‘no’ from lenders.”

After talks with city economic development staff, a plan to declare blighted the areas north and south of Sequiota Park was drafted to address issues, including obsolete platting and deficient street layouts.

In addition, Smith said there are four vacant properties within the proposed redevelopment zone and a number of unsanitary and unsafe conditions.

Husch Blackwell attorney Shawn Whitney, who drafted the redevelopment plan on behalf of Coryell, said the plan is designed to be tax neutral.

“Nothing is coming off the tax roles,” Whitney told council, pointing out the abatements would be on new improvements only.

“If this was a financial windfall for developers, then the area would already have new development.”

One speaker in favor of the plans was Billy Jalili, co-owner of Touch and Flame restaurants in Springfield.

Jalili said he’s considering buying two acres in the redevelopment area for a restaurant site, but wouldn’t make a move until the redevelopment plan is in place due to the high cost he anticipates with development.

Coryell said he pays roughly $8,000 a year in property taxes, and he estimated the 138-unit apartment complex would push annual taxes to around $75,000 without the abatement. That puts the value of the abatement on his property to roughly $670,000 over 10 years.

No speakers opposed the plans at the meeting. A second reading on the proposal and vote is scheduled April 28.

Signs of the times
Jonathan Gano, interim co-director of Springfield Public Works, introduced a bill that would put 89 traffic-monitoring devices across the city to help inform drivers of congestion and other traffic hang-ups.

The bill proposes a cost-sharing agreement with the Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission and the Ozarks Transportation Organization to fund the cost of the project. According to the bill, the monitoring equipment and software would cost the city $198,500 upfront, plus an estimated annual vendor fee of $21,270.

Gano told council members traffic data has been compiled since the 1980s by consultants who drive through key intersections every five or six years. Their findings are used to determine traffic volumes, but he said the data is limited and labor intensive.

The new system would install detectors at major intersections to detect Bluetooth devices in automobiles that pass by. If the same Bluetooth address is re-identified at another major intersection, then travel times can be calculated. The new data would be used to adjust traffic-signal timing as well as future roadway projects. Gano said the detectors would also help city staff better use Dynamic Message Sign boards, which already have been installed in several areas around town, to alert drivers about congestion in real time.

“It was a chicken or the egg problem. We didn’t know if we should put the signs out first without the traffic sensors in place or put the sensors out and not have the signs up,” Gano said, noting the signs have been valuable tools to share Amber alerts and weather warnings.

“We went with what we thought was for the greater good.”

The bill is scheduled to receive a second reading and vote at the April 28 meeting.[[In-content Ad]]