City Beat: Tax abatement sought for project at site of historic mill

A plan unveiled in 2022 that would activate a vacant property surrounding a 1901 flour mill is still in the works.

Springfield City Council heard the first reading on May 6 of an ordinance to approve a redevelopment plan proposed by The Sisters Mill Redevelopment Corp. for a highly recognizable property – a 13-story mill and adjoining silo at 610 N. Prospect Ave. that have been out of operation since the 1970s.

The site is located near the southeast corner of the intersection of Chestnut Expressway and National Avenue.

Springfield Director of Economic Vitality Amanda Ohlensehlen said plans call for a two-story casual restaurant building with a covered patio and a small retail space, as well as green space on the site. The project also would rehabilitate and stabilize the mill structures to facilitate future redevelopment.

Council is scheduled to vote on the plan at its May 20 meeting.

Springfield Business Journal first reported on the business concept in November 2022. Operating as The Sisters LLC, siblings Renee Textor and Sheri Perkins said they aimed to open The Table at the Mill, a casual-dining concept serving breakfast, lunch and dinner in the shadow of the historic mill and silo. Using the historic structures themselves was not part of their immediate plans, they said.

Ohlensehlen said the developers are seeking a Chapter 353 tax abatement, which is for urban redevelopment of real property that has been found to be a blighted area by a municipality.

Ohlensehlen said a blight report indicated several unsanitary or unsafe conditions.

“There is environmental contamination that exists on the site,” she said. “There’s trash and illegal dumping on the site, including things like drug paraphernalia, broken glass or discarded items. There’s obvious deterioration of site improvements.”

She added there is extensive graffiti and vandalism, as well as the potential for fire damage or for bodily injury to people on-site.

For a development to qualify for a Chapter 353 abatement, the city requires that it pass a but-for test, meaning it would not be financially feasible without the abatement, Ohlensehlen said.

The city also requires that proposed tax abatements be in line with its comprehensive plan, Forward SGF. Ohlensehlen said the area of the proposed development is highly traveled and would benefit from reinvestment and revitalization.

Ohlensehlen said the request for tax abatement is for a period of up to 25 years. In years 1-10, the request is for abatement of 100% of the assessed valuation of the new improvements and the land. The assessed valuation would be frozen in years 11-25, when the abatement would be 50% of the assessed valuation of land and improvements.

Ohlensehlen said a tax impact analysis indicated the taxing district would receive an additional $335,000 over the next 25 years if the redevelopment and tax abatement are authorized.

In September 2022, council approved a zoning change request to highway commercial from single-family residential to allow for retail and restaurant use.

Liquor license process change
An amendment to city code approved by council will change the process for notifying people occupying neighboring properties of liquor license applications.

With the change, a mailed notice must be given to any residential occupant living within 200 feet of a business applying for a liquor license. The notice is to instruct them of how to file a protest petition. Currently, only property owners are notified and able to protest the sale of retail liquor, according to a city staff explanation of the ordinance.

An amendment to the original council bill notifies property owners if a protest petition is filed by their tenants. Only one signature per land parcel is to be counted, with the owner’s opinion trumping the occupant’s in the event of a conflict.

Councilmember Monica Horton, who sponsored the original bill, voted in favor of the amended version, but said she hoped sufficient signatures of long-term tenants would not be invalidated because an applicant appeals to a property owner.

Even so, she said she saw a benefit to giving voice to property owners, as some tenants may end up vacating adjacent properties. Forward SGF comprehensive plan is to revitalize neighborhoods through multiuse development.

“One of the realities that we’re dealing with in some of our neighborhoods is that we have many vacant commercial types of buildings, and a lot of times, it’s up in the air in terms of what is going to eventually get there when it comes to looking at what constitutes a complete neighborhood,” she said. “In my mind, that looks like adjoining commercial hubs with desirable goods and services.”

Capital projects OK’d
A total of 156 capital improvement projects with a value of $230 million was recommended for funding in 2024, with 153 additional projects slated for 2025-29 at an estimated cost of $517 million.

The 2024 projects are topped by $47 million in sanitary sewer improvements, $43 million in street improvements and $40 million in solid waste improvements.

Other project categories are as follows:

• Stormwater, $25 million
• Airport, $18 million
• Parks, $16 million
• Targeted infrastructure, $13 million
• Walkability, bicycle and safety, $12 million
• Municipal buildings and grounds, $10 million
• Traffic management system, $4 million
• Zoo, $825,000
• Fire station, $120,000

The measure fulfils a requirement that the city manager secure an estimate of all capital projects pending and recommended within the budget year and within the five succeeding years.

Other action items

• For a project headed by a construction manager at risk – a newer option being used on certain city projects such as the renovation of the Historic City Hall – that professional is now permitted to advertise and receive bids on behalf of the city. City Council will still be required to approve all contracts.
• Council OK’d a $91,000 allocation for a jail diversion program offered as a partnership of the Springfield-Greene County Health Department and the Springfield Municipal Court.
• Council accepted $3.6 million in American Rescue Plan Act funds for sewer work that is intended to reduce flooding in residential areas. The funds were applied for in June 2022 by the city through the Missouri Department of Natural Resources. Work will include the Catalpa Street and Lone Pine Avenue stormwater improvement project, $734,000; the Loren Street and Karla Avenue project, $838,000; and the Glenwood regional detention project, $2 million.
• More Missouri Department of Natural Resources ARPA funds were accepted in the amount of $5 million for the Renew Jordan Creek project. The funds will support construction of the Main Street to Boonville Avenue portion of the project as well as construction of a box culvert at Phelps Street and Boonville Avenue. Additionally, an MDNR Damage Assessment and Restoration Grant of $400,000 was accepted for the Main to Boonville Avenue portion.
• The Springfield-Greene County Health Department received an extension of an existing grant for epidemiology and laboratory capacity. That $474,000 in funding comes from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The Health Department also received $108,406 from the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services for public health core services.