City adopts master redevelopment corporation

Springfield City Council April 4 approved plans for a new entity designed to be a boon for downtown businesses and developers.
Many businesses want to take advantage of Chapter 353 of the Missouri Revised Statutes, which offers tax incentives for companies that redevelop substandard or blighted areas. But a lot of those businesses, said City Manager Tom Finnie, are prohibited by the costs of incorporating.
Called the Springfield Master Redevelop-ment Corp., the city’s new entity allows area businesses that plan to redevelop existing buildings to incorporate under the city’s master corporation, helping companies save on legal costs of incorporating. In general, the state charges about $1,000 to register a business, with legal fees on top of that.
City officials say that in addition to lowering legal expenses, the new corporation also streamlines the process.
“We would be applying for (the businesses) and then charging a pro rata amount so each business wouldn’t have to set up their own structure,” Finnie said. “And we can do it at a much lower cost through the economies of scale that would be created by setting up several at a time.”
Economic Development Director Mary Lilly Smith said there are substantial abatements available under the statute – 100 percent of the property tax on the improvement for the first 10 years and 50 percent of the tax on the improvement over the next 15 years.
One stipulation of the new corporation: Under state law, the city has the option of granting eminent domain powers to developers filing with the master corporation. Those powers are only good for the area in a development’s site plan.
Smith said that particular clause of the law shouldn’t have much effect in Springfield, because city officials don’t intend to give up that power.
“The way other communities have used (the law), if someone were to come in with a plan and had to acquire several properties to get the project done, the city could actually grant the developer the power of eminent domain so they can do their site assembly,” she said. “In Springfield, the city has always reserved that power – they have never granted that to a redevelopment corporation. The way we envision this is that (eminent domain) would stay under council’s authority.”

Also on the agenda:
• Council heard a request to amend a planned development southwest of the Campbell Avenue and James River Freeway interchange. The amendment would allow a hotel development, among other businesses.
The 10.6-acre property is being split into four tracts. The amendment changed the floor-area ratio of one of the tracts to allow a multistory building to be placed there.
Brent Stevens of H Design Group, the architect for two of the four tracts, said the change fixed an oversight made when the planned development was first approved.
The proposed hotel would be four stories and have about 83 rooms, Stevens said. The developer, Drury Properties, is in negotiations with several different hotel companies for the new facility.
The other three tracts could feature a restaurant, a retirement community and possibly another hotel, according to Stevens.
• Coryell & Company Properties LLC is looking to expand its apartment portfolio. City Council heard a request to rezone 2.3 acres north of the Kansas Expressway and Sunshine Street intersection from heavy commercial to medium density residential use.
H Design’s Stevens, who is designing the project, said the $2.5 million, 56-unit project would be connected with Sherwood Forest and Highland Park.