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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2008-02-14 ACE MINUTES• • • I. ALLIANCE FOR COMMERCE IN ENGLEWOOD Fe bru a ry 1 4, 200 8 CALL TO ORDER The regular meeting of the Alliance for Commerce in Englewood (ACE) was called to order at 11 :40 a.m . in the City Council Conference Room of the Englewood Civic Center, Chair Schalk presiding. Present: Schalk, Verbeck (e ntered 12:28), Panetta, Vasilas Absent: Guinther, McDermott, Lonborg, Espinoza (altern a te ) Also present: Jim Woodward, Mayor Joe Jefferson , Councilman (e ntered 11 :4 6) Michael Morton, Executive Director, Chamber of Commerce (entered 11 :44 ) Staff present: Alan White, Community Development Director Darren Hollingsworth, Economic Development Coordinator The Recording Secretary d istributed the Community Development 2007 Annual Report to all members . Mr. Hollingsworth distributed the February 14, 2008 issue of The Villager to all members. He noted on page 6 there is an article on economic development in the City of Englewood . APPROVAL OF MI N UTES January 10, 2008 Chair Scha l k stated that the Minutes of January 10, 2008 were to be considered for approval . It was determined there was not a quorum. 11 . ACE BUSINESS 2 008 GOAL S The members are all anxious to push more forward in 2008 than ACE ever has . Chair Schalk stated he feels if ACE can bring City Council up to speed more quickly than in the past, hopefully we can make some real progress in the next couple of years . Chair Schalk stated one of the goals he is proposing has to do with the discussion at last weeks BI D meeting. Parking i n the 3400 block of Acoma Street where t he proposed Cu ltural Arts center is to be built was discussed. The business owners in the 3400 block of Broadway are co ncerned. H e said the King Soopers parking lot used to be a retail structure . We have learned from t he past what did not work and feels if done again it could be done 1 • • right the second time. He proposes to look at building a multi-level parking structure on the current parking lot with retail storefronts from Starbucks south to Kaufman 's. It could service the 3300 block, the 3400 block and the 3200 block where the Gothic Theater and The Falcon are located. He said the downtown parking issue has been discussed numerous times over the years, with no resolution . He feels the lack of parking is hindering development, especially in the 3400 block of Acoma. He stated he has 100,000 customers coming to Englewood and a lot of them would p ark there and provide revenue for the City. Englewood Arts could then build their complex on Acoma and all the owners of the 3400 block wouldn 't blockade the expan sion of that business area because there would be ample parking. It would also attach the 3400 block down to the Gothic Theater and the areas that are currently parking lots could turn into businesses. Those lots will never be able to turn into businesses without parking . Money the City could generate from selling the Acoma/Englewood Parkway property could help jump start the multi-level parking structure and retail piece. He said he feels King Soopers would be open to the project because everyone would be parking in front of their store. He said he would like to know if ACE has access to funding to put together a concept of a retai l/multi-level parking structure that can then be pitched to King Soopers and all the businesses in the area. He said he doesn 't want another parking study; they 've been done in the past. Mr. Panetta asked who owns the parking lot. Chair Schalk said King Soopers is the owner. Mr. Panetta said the first step w o uld be to get them on board. Chair Schalk said to get them on board he would like to show them a visual idea of what is being proposed. He said he would like to ask the City, instead of doing a parking study, to allocate funds for a rendering. Mayor Woodward said more of a conceptual type drawing? Chair Schalk said that was correct. He said placing a large structure in front of King Soopers is a big impact and their initial reaction will probably be no. Mayor Woodward said maybe the way to get to a yes on that issue is signage on the front. Mr. Morton asked if Chair Schalk had a secondary location in mind . He said he did not. Mr. Morton suggested if ACE is going to engage somebody to do a drawing there should be a choice 1 and choice 2. Chair Schalk said he personally likes the King Soopers location because it is visible by 60,000 cars daily on Broadway and visibility is very important and is centrally located. He said he doesn't believe any of the other parkin g lots in the area are big enough to accommodate a multi-level structure . Mr. Panetta said for those of us who were not at the BID meeting, can you give us a summary of the pros and cons discussed at the meeting. Chair Schalk said the question was "what are we going to do about parking if the art center is built". Mr. Vasilas said the businesses in the 3400 block on both sides of the street welcomed the idea of building the cultural arts center, but we have to come up with a solution to the parking problem for both the center and the businesses. He suggested the old Hollywood Video store lot be considered for a parking structure. It was determined the lot was too small and had already • been sold and will be divided into three tenant spaces. 2 • • • Discussion continued on the use of the King Soopers lot. Mr. Vasilas said he felt customers of King Soopers would not be willing to carry their groceries up an elevator to get to their car. Chair Schalk said the bottom level could be designated for grocery shoppers only. Longer term parking would be on the upper levels. He said until someone comes up with an idea of where a parking lot can go that area is going to remain undeveloped. He would like ACE to at least try to see what can be done. Chair Schalk said there is already a King Soopers store in town that has no visibility; there is a parking structure in front of it. He believes they could see ACE 's vision. Mr. Jefferson asked about building a parking structure on the east side of Broadway behind the 3400 block of retail shops. Chair Schalk said his feeling is if you cannot see the parking lot you'll never find it. Mr. Jefferson said aesthetically, maybe the structure should not be right on Broadway. Chair Schalk said there needs to be more retail from Starbuck 's to Kaufman's. The members stated there used to be retail along that area. Chair Schalk said Englewood wasn 't that vibrant back then and it wasn 't happening when that retail center was built. Mayor Woodward said the retail on the front was functionally obsolete when it was built. The two-story building made no sense and there was only one permanent tenant, a liquor store, the entire time the center was there . Chair Schalk said it is a long shot in many ways , but is there another solution to the parking issue? That piece could unify three blocks of the prime old downtown area. If everyone is in agreement he would like ACE to hire an architect to do a rendering . When ACE has a rendering we all agree upon we will take it to King Soopers. Sam Kaufman would also be contacted to obtain his input. Mr. Hollingsworth said he agrees parking is an issue worth addressing. He reminded the members that the government "process" can sometimes be painfully slow. There is value in having a plan of action; it helps everyone get on the same page. He said the cost of a parking space runs about $20 -$25,000 each in today's climate, which equates to about a $4.5 to $5 million structure to fit the demand for the proposed cultural arts center. Mr. Panetta asked who would fund it. Mr. Hollingsworth stated there are still a lot of questions at this time . Mr. Morton asked about adding in Englewood Arts making them partially responsible for helping with presenting the idea to King Soopers and coming up with some of the funding . Chair Schalk said there is potential for tax revenue dollars . A nominal amount of money could be charged to park. If you charged $2 per car at night to go to the Gothic Theater he said he should be good for 10,000 to 15 ,000 cars a year. $30,000 could be gained from just the Gothic Theater customers alone . Mr. Morton asked who would get the revenue. Mr. White stated it would be whoever floated the bonds to build it. Chair Schalk said he hopes the Acoma property is not going to be given to the arts people. There 's money there to put towards a parking structure. Mr. Vasilas asked who owns the property where the old two-story retail structure stood along Broadway. Mr. Hollingsworth said that is owned by King Soopers. Mr. Vasilas said he thought it was owned by the Englewood Urban Renewal Authority at one time . Mr. Hollingsworth looked at a map of the area and confirmed it was owned by King Soopers. 3 • • • Mayor Woodward asked Mr. Hollingsworth and Mr. White if Patty Silverstein could do a study on the impact to King Soopers if a parking structure were built. She has already provided a study on the cultural arts center. Mr. Hollingsworth said Patty Silverstein is a well known regional economist. A Fiscal Impact Analysis looks at the spin off dollars of people being in the area. He said Patt y Silverstein has already created a Fiscal Impact Study for the proposed cultural arts facility. He suggested inviting the Cultural Arts group to the next ACE meeting for discussion. He asked if that was something ACE would support? After discussion it was decided the ACE members did not want to go that route just yet. Chair Schalk stated that ACE's goal is to unify businesses and to bring more commerce to Englewood. That is why I want to take on this enormous goal of providing a parking solution for the downtown Englewood area. Chair Schalk asked if ACE could ask the City for money to hire an architect to do a rendering. Mr. Jefferson suggested talking to King Soopers and Mr. Kaufman first to see what their thoughts are. Mr. Hollingsworth agreed. Mayor Woodward suggested Community Development be the one to initially contact King Soopers. Mr. White stated Community Development's work program contains developing a strategy for parking in downtown. There are consultants we need to bring on board to help us figure out the strategy such as how do we build it, who builds it, who collects the money, and how is it run. At some point he believes King Soopers will want answers to those questions too. Mr. Morton asked if maybe the cultural arts building team could help out. Mayor Woodward said the architect might be somebody who could very quickly do a conceptual plan. Mr. Panetta said one of the first questions that you have to be prepared to answer is "what's in it for me ". King Soopers will want to know what will motivate them to do the project. Chair Schalk said the question of what this will mean to King Soopers financially needs to be answered. Mayor Woodward said having a real rendering of the arts center to show them would be helpful. Chair Schalk asked if Community Development could put together a list of pros and an economic forecast. Mr. Hollingsworth said he believes the Cultural Arts facility would be happy to hear that the merchants on Broadway and the city of Englewood's business advisory board, ACE, is supportive of the idea. He suggests bringing them into the downtown parking discussion. Then we can begin the next step of looking at the economic impacts in the area and a parking strategy. Maybe ACE needs t o have some professional assistance to look at the issue as it becomes far more complicated in structuring something financially as to who pays what and how the parking lot will pay for itself. By contract Englewood Arts must resolve the parking issue. He said working together to address the issued you will go a whole lot further. Mr. Jefferson agreed. Chair Schalk said he will volunteer before the next ACE meeting to meet with Mr. Eric Bertoluzzi and his group and obtain information. He said he would rather not have them attend the next meeting, but go t o them first to discuss ACE's strategy. Hopefully, they would then be able to attend the following ACE meeting. Mayor Woodward suggested to 4 • • • include Jim Anderson and Shaw's representative in the meeting also. He said he would be happy to meet with them too. Mr. Vasilas asked if Community De v elopment has had any discussion with Mr. Bertoluzzi and Englewood Arts about solving the parking problems. Mr. White said they had not other than stating in the Agreement they are responsible for solving the issue . APPROVAL OF MINUTES January 10, 2008 Chair Schalk stated there was now a quorum and the Minutes of January 10, 2008 could be considered for approval. Vasilas moved: Panetta seconded : THE MINUTES OF JANUARY 10, 2008 BE APPROVED AS WRITIEN. The motion carried unanimously. Ill. COMMENTS & EVENTS CHAMBER OF COMMERCE Mr. Morton introduced himself as the new Executive Director of the Greater Englewood Chamber of Commerce. He said the new staff is trying to rebuild the Chamber and to be viable in the future we need more membership. He asked the members to help drive membership to the Chamber. Their Board would like to connect ACE , the BID and the Chamber to work on projects, to be more connected so they are not three different entities. They approved at their Board meeting to open up two Board seats to be filled by one member from ACE and one member from the BID Board to attend the Chamber's Board meetings and to collectively work together. Mr. Vasilas stated he would bring it up to the BID and get back to Mr. Morton . Mayor Woodward noted that Mr. Brian Hart is already on the BID Board and also belongs to the Chamber so may be able to fill one seat. Mr. Morton said they would also like to have someone from the ACE Board. Chair Schalk asked for a volunteer. Mr. Verbeck volunteered to serve on the Chamber Board. Mr. Morton noted some of the business owners who have recently joined the Chamber would like to see the Chamber more active and full time . They also would like to see the business community come together and each support the other one . Mr. Jefferson asked Mr. Morton how many members are currently in the Chamber. He said there are approximately 120. He noted there has been a steady decline in membership and the events that have been ran in the past few years have lost money. He said the goal is to increase membership by 100 members and run profitable events, which would enable the Executive Director and the Community Relations Manager to become full time employees . If anyone has any suggestions or knows of new businesses or anyone who would be interested in the Chamber, please let us know. 5 • • • Mayor Woodward suggested working with The Villager to address the Chambers thoughts and plans for the future. Mr. Morton said The Villager has been loyal to the Chamber, and the Chamber just included The Herald. The idea for The Villager is to have a two-page fold out. One to two businesses would be showcased on one page and the other page would be a Chamber sponsored page for advertising at a reduced rate for any Engle wood business . There will be a Business After Hours get together on the 19 th from 5 to 8 at Frame de Art. Mr. Morton invited all to attend. Plans are to hold one a month at different businesses in the area . ACE MEMBERS Chair Schalk asked all members to email him if they have items they wish to include on next month 's agenda . Mr. Panetta asked if Mr. Bob Simpson had made a presentation to City Council in January regarding the redevelopment of the Flood Middle School property. Mayor Woodward stated that did happen. He asked Council for feedback on types of development they might wish to see on the property and also reiterated that the school board was motivated to build what best benefits the community on that property. A neighborhood meeting was also held in January . BID COMMENTS Mr. Vasilas stated there is a BID meeting next Wednesday at 1 :30 . STAFF COMMENTS Mr. Hollingsworth referenced the Community Development Newsletter that was distributed earlier. He noted City Council also received a copy. 2007 was a banner year in many ways; 14 new businesses located in Englewood. The Hotel Study was discussed in the report. ACE supported the Hotel Study and there are at least three hotel projects being discussed within the community. Economic activity shows permit activity is way up from last year. No further business was brought forth for consideration. The meeting was adjourned at 1 :20 p.m. The next meeting is scheduled for March 13, 2008 . 6