HCW Evergreen, BKD downtown proposals head into negotiation phase

First, officials with Springfield Public Schools and Springfield-Greene County Parks and Recreation formally withdrew their request for a joint administrative complex at the site because construction wouldn’t begin until 2009.

Then, the Springfield Tax Abatement and Tax Increment Financing Commission voted to send two of the three remaining proposals to city staff for further negotiation, excluding a plan from John Q. Hammons Hotels & Resorts to build an office building for BKD

LLP with first-floor restaurant and retail space.

HCW Evergreen LLC and BKD, which submitted its own proposal, are the two developers still in the running.

Hotel versus offices

Branson-based HCW Evergreen has proposed a four-star hotel with up to 18 floors under the Hilton or Embassy Suites brand.

The hotel would boast at least 10,000 square feet of meeting space and 23,000 square feet of ballroom space. HCW President Rick Huffman said the proposal also includes an option for up to 100,000 square feet of office space fronting East Trafficway.

Accounting firm BKD’s development proposal calls for two four- or five-story office buildings – one fronting St. Louis Street for its 260-plus employees and another along East Trafficway to be occupied by a third-party tenant.

BKD has a “short list” of prospective developers that includes Hammons, the firm’s landlord for the past 20 years. Today, BKD leases space on seven floors in the 22-story Hammons Tower just east of the former arena site under consideration.

Proposals detailed

The TIF Commission’s next meeting is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. April 9. Until then, city staff will negotiate the terms of the two proposals, which outline various tax incentives and parking needs.

Mary Lilly Smith, the city’s economic development director, said she’ll be meeting with representatives from HCW Evergreen and BKD to negotiate the terms of their development proposals.

“We need to work toward a middle ground,” she said.

HCW Evergreen has proposed a 99-year lease subordinate to a first deed of trust. Lease payments, which would begin two years after the hotel’s opening, would be a percentage of gross sales capped at a nominal amount, according to the proposal.

HCW Evergreen also has requested that the city waive building permit fees and provide free parking in the adjacent Jordan Valley Car Park, with one space for each hotel room and two for each condo.

In contrast, BKD is interested in purchasing the parcel from the city for the construction of its new corporate headquarters and a second office building. The firm has asked the city for five parking spaces per 1,000 square feet of rentable space in the car park.

BKD has also asked the city for Chapter 353 abatement of real estate and community improvement taxes, which allows for 100 percent abatement for 10 years and 50 percent abatement for an additional 15 years, Smith said.

What’s next?

Once negotiations are complete, city staff will forward the revised proposals to the TIF Commission, which will, in turn, make its recommendation to City Council.

City consultant Rick McConnell, an attorney with Gilmore & Bell public finance law firm in Kansas City, said commissioners should consider whether the developments would increase employment, eliminate blight and increase the tax base.

“Our goal is going to be to accommodate all of the projects,” Smith said.

Read more: Is Hammons out? John Q. Hammons’ pitch for an office building is nixed by TIF Commission