Public meeting starts revamp of Kearney Street redevelopment plan 

City of Springfield officials are resurrecting a redevelopment plan that had provided tax incentives for projects along a 3.5-mile stretch of the Kearney Street corridor. 

A public meeting was held last night at the Doling Park Northview Center for a crowd that topped 50 attendees, mostly people who live or do business along the corridor. Matt Schaefer, senior planner in the city’s Department of Workforce & Economic Vitality, led the presentation. 

The stretch of Kearney Street proposed for inclusion in the amended plan extends eastward from Albertha Avenue and Tom Watkins Park to a point just past Barnes Avenue, near Bass Pro Shops’ base camp headquarters. 

In the first five-year incarnation of the plan, which ran through 2023, qualifying projects were offered partial real property tax abatement pursuant to Missouri’s Land Clearance for Redevelopment Authority law, which allows an abatement of 100% of assessed value of new improvements for a 10-year period. It’s a tool that requires a declaration of blight to be utilized. 

Seven projects were completed under the plan, with six at the corridor’s east end and one at the west. The projects are as follows: 

• 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 and other representatives of the Economic Vitality office are seeking public input on a renewed redevelopment plan. 

Asked last night how the city would address what looked like underutilization of the incentives, with only seven projects – six of them concentrated at the intersection with Glenstone Avenue – Schaefer said a few things could be done. 

One possible change could be to address some design requirements from the original plan, which required certain durable building materials, like brick, stone or steel, while disallowing materials like cinder blocks, sheet metal or plain-faced concrete for street-facing exterior surfaces. Another would be to strike restrictions limiting curb cuts and instead rely on standards regularly used by builders from the city’s newly passed development code. 

“Perhaps one thing that could be done is by addressing some of the development standards in the redevelopment plans to make them a bit more user-friendly and easier to administer – that might be a start,” he said. 

But he added market aspects – things like interest rates and perceived customer draw – are also a key factor. 

“That’s something that we can’t really directly impact,” he said. 

 Schaefer additionally said the city could do a better job of promoting the available tax incentives. 

“Perhaps this program is not being publicized enough – that could be another thing,” he said. “I’ve seen some projects go in over the years that did not utilize this incentive, whether or not they made a conscious decision not to even opt for it or they just didn’t know about it. That may be something that on the city’s end we can do a better job of.” 

While the original redevelopment plan had a five-year duration, Schaefer said that’s not a statutory requirement but rather a city code limitation. The city could pursue a longer redevelopment plan this time around. 

Councilmember and architect Bruce Adib-Yazdi, who was present in the audience, said that might be a factor in what some view as underutilization of the incentives. 

“Projects take time sometimes to gestate,” he said. “If there’s just a window and you have to hurry up and try to get there, maybe there’s not enough time, and so that’s just one thing to consider.” 

The original redevelopment plan followed a 2017 corridor study that identified deteriorating conditions, economic stagnation, unmet retail demand and a public desire for revitalization, according to Schaefer’s presentation. 

A key recommendation following the study was the use of real property tax abatement and the creation of a community improvement district to encourage private investment and to fund public improvements, Schaefer said. 

The study also recommended targeted recruitment of specific retail types to fill the identified market gap, which included the areas of food and beverage, clothing and electronics. It also recommended improved placemaking and branding, leveraging the route’s identity as an alignment of historic Route 66. 

A project timeline shows city staff are preparing an updated blight report and amended redevelopment plan with a final draft to be completed in July for presentation to the city’s Land Clearance Development Authority and the Planning & Zoning Commission. 

A public hearing and subsequent vote by Springfield City Council is planned for September.