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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2006-01-12 ACE MINUTESALLIANCE FOR COMMERCE IN ENGLEWOOD Ja nu ary 1 2, 2006 I. CA LL TO OR D ER The regular meeting of the Alliance for Commerce in Englewood {ACE) was called to order at 11 :30 a.m. in the City Council Conference Room of the Englewood Civic Center, Vice Chair Vasilas presiding. Present: Absent: Lonborg (entered at 11 :45 ), Panetta, Schalk, Vasil as, Verbek Mayor Wo losyn, Council Liaison Guinther, McDermott (excused absence) Also present: Katie Mendel, Chamber of Commerce Liaison Jim Woodward, City Council Staff present: Darren Hollingsworth, Economic Development Coordinator Mark Graham, Senior Planner Bob Simpson, Director of Community Development Guest: Deb Kelly, WestStar Bank II. AC O MA RE D EVELO PMENT UPDA TE Mr. Graham stated the City and the EURA acquired the 3400 block of Acoma, which wraps around to the corner of Broadway and Englewood Parkway, in the 1980's as part of a urban renewal project which was not completed. The land is leased to the City for parking for $10 a year and has been used in that capacity for the last 20 years. A few years ago staff went to the market to determine if there was an interest for redeveloping the site. City Council appointed a committee to review submitted proposals; the committee decided the proposals were not what they wanted for the site. They were looking for development along the Broadway and Acoma frontages. The submi t ted proposals were primarily for development along the Broadway corner. Developers started showing unsolicited interest in the site last year. At one time, there were seven different parties asking about the site. Staff set a deadline of December 9 for interested parties to submit proposals . The committee then met to hear presentations on December 15 from four development groups, and were excited about two of t he proposals. The third developer was asked to submit additional information because t he committee felt he did not have sufficient time to prepare his presentation. All the proposals have a commercial component of varying scale. The smallest one would develop commercial only on the Broadway frontage and residential and parking on t h e balance of the property. One of the proposals has a three story building with office abo v e 1 commercial. The other has a four-story building with residential above commercial. The most intensive commercial development is a 25,000-30,000 square foot cinema proposal. The cinema proposal would extend from Acoma to Broadway along Englewood Parkway. The cinema proposal entails the need for a parking structure, probably at least 300-400 parking spaces. With the existing demand for downtown businesses, that number will probably rise to 500-600. All the developers were told of the public objectives includ ed in the Request for Proposals a few years ago. One of the primary objectives is that they maintain parking for the existing businesses. The two proposals that staff has the most information on are financed, and they are interested in breaking ground by Fall. An informational meeting for merchants is scheduled for January 18 to discuss the proposals. The review committee will meet again on January 19 with the goal of prioritizing the proposals for City Council. Staff will then ask City Council to enter into a 60-day negotiation with a developer which will hopefully end with a Development Agreement and a closing date. Mr. Schalk stated that was great news; he is very interested in having additional activity at night. Vice Chair Vasilas agreed. Mr. Simpson stated the Planning Commission approved a drive-thru Starbucks at the northeast corner of Broadway and Bates Avenue. It is owned by Jon Cook; it is a good project. Based on national drive-thru averages for Starbucks, it will generate betwee n $45,000-$55,000 annually to the City. Mayor Wolosyn stated she didn't realize it was a drive-thru; she asked for the square footage of the building. Mr. Simpson responded that the building is approximately 1,700 square feet. It is a sit-down, as well as a drive-thru . It also cleans up that corner which has a check cashing business and a house that had approximately 268 police calls to it in the past year. Mr. Schalk asked if the cinema proposal was high on the committee's list. He believes t he City will never attract restaurants if a night-time element is not in place. Mr. Graham sta t ed staff started recruiting a cinema chain to the David Taylor space and that space didn't work out. They were put with one of the development teams instead . It is not a "regul ar" cinema; it is Cinema Grill from Aurora. They are in an expansion mode, and have had preliminary discussions with the developer. Staff is excited about that possibility because it represents a huge draw -six theaters, restaurant service, ESPN room, etc. Mr. Simpson stated it is an exciting proposal that provides great choices for the downtown. There are still a number of questions that need to be answered on all the proposals. The important factor to consider on all the proposals is they have taken into consideration the need for parking by the existing businesses. Mr. Graham stated the performas will contain a lot of the information needed to determi n e whether the City's participation is affordable and appropriate. Mr. Graham stated t e residential component on the theater project would be 67 condos, which is a mix of townhouse-style condos with doors opening out to the sidewalk and units which have direct access to a level of a parking deck which wrapped. The other proposal has between 2 130-150 condos. The target market for the larger residential proposal is 25-35 year olds, which would be good for nighttime activity. Discussion ensued regarding the cinema proposal. Mr. Schalk stated Englewood needs to "wake up" at night if restaurants are going to locate in Englewood. He believes the cinema will drive the parking issue. The cinema would be at night, which would leave plenty of parking during the day. A parking lot can make a lot of money. Chair Vasilas asked Ms. Kelly to introduce h ers e lf. Ms. Kelly stated she is with WestStar Bank, who is looking to locate a branch in Englewood within the next six months. 111. APPROVAL OF MINUTES December 8, 2005 Vice Chair Vasilas stated that the Minutes of December 8, 2005 were to be considered for approval. Schalk moved: Lonberg seconded: The Minutes of December 8, 2005 be approved as written. The motion carried unanimously. IV. CHAMBER GALA Mr. Hollingsworth stated the Chamber Gala will be held on January 26. ACE members are encouraged to attend, and the City will purchase the tickets. A signup sheet was circulated. Mayor Wolosyn stated it is a completely new format. Kimberly Langston, who works for Swedish, has worked very hard to make it a fun evening. Ms. Lonborg stated Ms. Langston sent her with posters and asked members to place them in their businesses to advertise the Gala. Ms. Langston was successful in receiving a $1 ,000 airline credit from Frontier Airlines as part of the giveaway. Ms. Mendel stated there would be a number of different stations; each one representing a different part of Englewood. A lot more socializing will be encouraged, as well as networking. It will not be as formal as it has been in previous years. A comedy team is also planned. V. ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY Mr. Simpson stated the new Council has an interest in moving forward and repositioning the City. There will be a Council retreat on February 25 which will mostly focus on economic development. With that focus, he is looking to talk about community context. Staff will be assisting Council in understanding the Economic Development Strategy. His goals for the Council retreat is to assist ACE, Council, and staff to better understand things 3 from an economic development standpoint that are important in terms of "quick fixes." He also wants to establish mid-term goals that can be accomplished within 12-18 months, and finally long term goals. He would like the members to focus on getting the issues on the table; he will then take those issues on to Council so they can better understand them. One of the issues he has heard is how the City deals with small businesses. Two examples have been brought to his attention. One is the restaurant Undici. There has been a multitude of reasons for its delay in opening. Some have been City; some have been the owner not getting enough personnel hired. Perhaps the City can assist the owner i n hosting job fairs and training. The more difficult area is how the City facilitates people who don't understand construction and helping them through the construction and building process. Another example has been Jon Cook, who is a large property owner on South Broadway. He owns 25 percent of the properties on Broadway and is working on the BID. He is a small business developer who has had difficulty navigating through the City's processes. He has begun to say he will avoid it. We need to determine the issues, if there are commonalities, and how to move forward to correct these situations. Mayor Wolosyn stated that anyone in small business knows of some positive things that are just as important to list that can be enhanced or can be tools to untangle the negative. Mr. Simpson said the City is doing a lot of positive things and is seeking improvement. The goal is continual improvement. Vice Chair Vasilas stated he is excited that City Council and staff is willing to listen to the small business owner and is willing to change the climate. The impression along Broadway is that the City officials were occupied with CityCenter for the past few years. He is glad that they are now moving past CityCenter to Broadway businesses and east of Broadway. He talks to a lot of business people because he is involved with the BID. There are a lot of people who have hard feelings for the way the City conducts itself toward small businesses. He reiterated that he is happy to hear that the City realizes it has to change their way of conducting business. Small businesses can't do it by themselves. There are a lot of issues along Broadway, such as security, homeless people, etc. that need to be addressed by the City. Broadway is mainly destination businesses and has great access with Hampden and Santa Fe; there is a lot of traffic. He stated the area needs to look business oriented, so people are not afraid to stop and shop; speeds need to be slowed down. He asked how changes would be funded. Mr. Simpson responded that he didn't know; the goals for today's meeting is only to put the issues on the table. Council can then begin how to prioritize the issues. Mayor Wolosyn stated there will be an Economic Development Retreat in February. She encouraged the members to put forth all types of ideas for staff and Council to take forward. Her goal is for Council to imagine different and long-term plans for the City. Council can then put money aside in the budget to fund those ideas. Mr. Schalk stated that business development to him means building. He has a great relationship with the Englewood Police Department; they are "solution oriented." When 4 there is a problem, they meet with him and have a discussion. In Denver, it is a different situation. On the other end of the spectrum is the Englewood Building Department. Mr. Schalk stated he had difficulties with them seven years. He is currently working with a contractor and the "word on the street" is that the Building Department is not solution oriented; it is rule oriented. At the bottom of every permit it states "Per the Building Official", which means the Building Official or the inspectors have the ability to look at the situation and determine whether or not it is a safety situation. Mr. Schalk stated he understands that safety is the number one issue; but if an electrical socket is not exactly six inches from the door, he doesn't feel that it is detrimental to anyone. The Englewood Building Department always sticks to what the Code states; that is not solution oriented. He stated that is what is stopping and impeding development. You cannot have building and development without a solution-oriented Building Department. The easiest way is to build first and ask questions later. Mr. Schalk continued; it is not the City of Englewood or the inspectors who will be in trouble for any safety issues. It will be the engineer, the contractor, and/or the building owner. He is asking that the Building Department just be reasonable with the contractors. He believes there is built-in leniency with the statement "per the Building Official" and it just isn't exercised. Again the word from the contractors and the "subs" is that the Englewood Building Department is one of the most unfriendly Building Departments to work with and it is very difficult to get any work accomplished in that environment. He believes the answer is more than telling them that there is leniency; he believes the department needs to be "s haken up." Ms . Lonborg stated she participated in a focus group in 2002 on what it was like to work with the Building Department. She has thought about that since then because Swedish's experience as a large business owner was very different that what Mr. Schalk just described. She doesn't believe that it is because the City treats Swedish differently because they are a larger business owner. She believes the difference is because Swedish has the ability to employ professional architects and people to work with the City on their projects . They know how to get the leniency when needed and develop a longer term plan. She doesn't believe small businesses can afford to hire those professionals, and they shouldn't have to. Mr. Simpson stated that was a very good observation. After staff's discussions with the owner of the Undici restaurant, that was their conclusion as well. Perhaps one of the ways to address the situation is for the City to hire a person to assist the small business owner in the construction process. Ms. Lonborg agreed. Mr. Schalk stated his contractors asked him to encourage the City to hire people to work with them in the process . Mayor Wolosyn suggested a Community Development staff person who is a bridge between the contractor and the Building Department. Mr. Woodward stated they already do that to some extent. From the commercial real estate business, he was aware a few years ago of the Building Department's reputation as being difficult. One of Council's goals last May was working to change that and making it more friendly. Recently, he heard a few complaints and pulled the files to do some research. He asked Mr. Schalk if the complaints he is hearing are recent or older. Mr. Schalk stated they are from a contractor that he is currently using that works in Englewood. He reiterated that the insp ectors are not 5 accommodating and are not solution oriented. He would not be able to do the project he is doing in Denver in Englewood because Englewood would require him to bring it up to Code and he would be required to have more parking spaces. Mayor Wolosyn stated the Esquire has no parking and agreed it would not be permitted in Englewood under the same conditions. Mr. Simpson agreed; Englewood is no longer a suburban community and the City has to start thinking in those terms. There are security and homeless issues. There is lack of parking and the regulations need to be adjusted to a more urban standard. Englewood is unique because of its character; there is great commercial building stock, but if the City insists on parking associated with everything from a regulatory standpoint it will be a deal killer. His goal is incremental improvements. Ms. Lonborg stated after the attitude is cleaned up, she would like to find a solution for small businesses that don't have experience building to make the process easier for them with the City. Vice Chair Vasilas stated this isn't just a current problem; this has been a problem in the City for at least 15 years. An open forum was held 15 years ago where contractors spoke about taking their offices out of the City because they couldn't deal with inspectors. Mr. Verbeck stated that Trammell Crow is moving out of CityC enter, and he is exploring options. He stated that Hampden is not that attractive either and a lot of discussion has been held on improving Broadway. He has talked to people within CityCenter and it appears a lot of people don't access CityCenter via Hampden they reach it via Englewood Parkway, Inca, or Dartmouth. There is nothing on Hampden that lets people know that CityCenter Englewood is a great development to be a part of or to stop in. It is not a shopping mecca, but it can be a destination. Hampden is seriously lacking; it needs a facelift. There is very little landscaping. Signages for the CityCenter businesses needs to be improved along Hampden . Mr. Panetta asked if there was a desirable model for inner-ring suburb for an urban area in terms of what is a desired mix of residential, commercial, and industrial from the standpoint of revenue for the City and for quality of life for members of the community. Secondly, there is no advocate for the industrial sector of the city. They locate in the city because it is convenient and because they have been here for a long time. Mr. Simpson stated approximately eight years ago, Community Development held Manufacturer Roundtables for industrial companies. The City was able to learn what was occurring in the manufacturing/industrial community, which is approximately 30 percent of the City. Mr. Simpson stated he and Mark met on workforce development and training needs which is directed at manufacturing and small business. They are looking at how those partnerships can be developed. Mr. Simpson stated he doesn't believe there is a perfect city model; it depends on what the community wants to be . Englewood is continuing to work towards that and it is what makes each community unique. Changes are occurring, and staff is paying attention to 6 trends. The trends are that the light rail exists which allows the City to rethink what type of housing exists within the community and it also helps support retail. Mr. Schalk stated he believes business drives the community. There hasn't been a real catalyst to move the City forward. He believes the Acoma project will provide that catalyst. The CityCenter didn't really help business; he believes Wal-Mart hurt business. Mr. Simpson stated he believes the Acoma project is the next CityCenter. Because of its size and scale, it has the potential to move things along. There has been a lot of infill activity along the art shuttle corridor. A number of developers who are involved in redevelopment projects talk about the importance of the shuttle. It is interesting how the shuttle is changing that corridor. Mr. Verbeck stated the shuttle has taken people who normally walk or ride their bike along the corridor and has "leap frogged" the businesses in between. People used to ride the light rail and walk by and stop into the businesses at CityCenter. Now people get on the shuttle before they reach any of the businesses in CityCenter and drive by the businesses. Mr. Panetta stated that to have a meaningful impact for business development it needs to be a project of enough space such as the Acoma project. Since Englewood does not have a lot of space, it would be good if Englewood could start assembling land parcels so at some point the City have enough lots to create a "big bang." Mr. Woodward stated the Gates redevelopment presents the City with some real opportunities for Broadway. He would like to entice the people living at the Gates project to come south on Broadway into Englewood. It is something the City should be looking at now; otherwise, it could be a missed opportunity. VII. COMMENTS AND EVENTS Mr. Vasilas stated the BID is moving forward. The next two months is the most crucial time. There was a meeting yesterday with Cliff Weinberger; he has decided to support the BID. There are additional meetings scheduled throughout the next week with other business owners. The petition drive will be starting soon and it will go to the ballot in November. Ms. Mendel stated the Chamber will start offering health insurance by the end of the month. More information will be available at the gala. No further business was brought forth for consideration. The meeting was adjourned at 1 p .m . 7 Agenda /Action Items: • Littleton improvement pro gram funding -report • Continue ED Strategy discussion • Report on Council Retreat • Development Codes 8