Council to receive renewed Kearney Street redevelopment plan

City of Springfield officials continue their work on an updated redevelopment initiative for the Kearney Street corridor, with the Land Clearance for Redevelopment Authority accepting the first amended and restated redevelopment plan at its meeting March 3.

The LCRA also accepted an updated blight study prepared by Springfield Economic Vitality officials for the area.

The 3.5-mile Kearney Street corridor extends eastward from Albertha Avenue and Tom Watkins Park to a point just west of Barnes Avenue near Bass Pro Shops’ base camp headquarters.

The first incarnation of the plan lasted for five years and ended in 2023, and it yielded seven projects.

The new plan offers the incentive of partial real property tax abatement pursuant to Missouri’s Land Clearance for Redevelopment Authority law, which allows an abatement of 100% of assessed value for new improvements for a 10-year period. A declaration of blight is required for the incentive to be used, according to past reporting.

Matt Schaefer, senior planner in the city’s Department of Workforce & Economic Vitality, told the LCRA that the corridor is considered a legacy blighted area, and aside from the seven properties that were redeveloped – six on the east end and one on the west end of the corridor – the area has for the most part remained unchanged.

Schaefer said inadequate street layouts present a safety issue with excessive numbers of curb cuts creating multiple conflict points. City code addresses access management already, he said, noting new code requirements are much more thorough and apply to existing buildings.

The area is also marked by problems like littering and illegal dumping with some unsewered properties and some brownfield sites. Schaefer said the area is marked by deterioration, with over 70% of properties in the area in either poor or fair condition. Some 10% of structures are vacant and susceptible to vandalism.

“An argument can be made that this area needs all the help that it can get,” Schaefer said, though he said the plan would not solve all problems.

Schaefer said the city has an idea of what to expect after the first cycle of the plan, which brought some redevelopment but was not robust.

“Instead of throwing on additional requirements above and beyond what would be otherwise required elsewhere in the city, maybe we should keep the threshold at a level equal with other areas of the city,” he said.

LCRA member Steve Jackson highlighted a perceived problem with the plan.

“The thing about the Kearney corridor is these are predominantly mom-and-pop businesses that are probably trying to figure out how they’re going to pay expenses for the next 30 to 60 days,” he said. “They’re not trying to figure out how they’re going to work the abatement system to put a new storefront on.”

Lacking some major player generating some kind of activity, he said, “I have a feeling we’re going to be back here in five years to try to redo it again.”

Added Jackson, “Demand drives the ship.”

Schaefer agreed that market forces will drive redevelopment efforts.

“This is one thing that can help redevelopment, but it’s not going to be the silver bullet,” he said.

LCRA member James Robinette suggested innovation in road infrastructure, citing examples he has seen in other states to do things like create deceleration lanes for commercial access.

“Those are some of the things that we haven’t really seen here, although Springfield’s certainly been breaking ground on things like diverging diamonds,” he said.

Economic Vitality Director Amanda Ohlensehlen said the Missouri Department of Transportation has made numerous improvements on Kearney Street recently, though she said Robinette’s ideas make sense.

Robinette said he would like to see legislators solve problems on more of a long-term basis with roadways.

“I think we’d all like to see Kearney Street go back to something like the way it was 40-50 years ago,” he said.

Schaefer said the Forward SGF comprehensive plan does identify Kearney Street as a commercial corridor, and he added that it would require investment from the public sector, including state partners.

The following projects resulted from the first five-year corridor plan, according to past SBJ reporting:

• DoubleTree by Hilton, containing the Glendalough Conference Center, 2431 N. Glenstone Ave.

• Retail center at former Buckingham Smokehouse Bar B Q LLC, now containing Echelon Coffee LLC, Crumbl Cookies and an AT&T store, 2415 N. Glenstone Ave.

• BigShots Golf Springfield at a former Kmart site, 1930 E. Kearney St.

• Chick-fil-A at the former Springfield Inn motel site, 2455 N. Glenstone Ave.

• Whataburger, also at the former Springfield Inn site, 2337 N. Glenstone Ave.

• Long Drive Center, retail center adjacent to BigShots and including the Howie Wehmeyer Insurance Agency Inc., 1845 E. Turner St.

• MMC Fencing & Railing LLC, new store, 1900 W. Kearney St.

Schaefer said the updated redevelopment plan would proceed to the Planning & Zoning Commission next, with two readings by City Council set for April 6 and 20.