http://citymanagermiddletown.com/" rel="nofollow - - Middletown City Manager Douglas Adkins
www.cityofmiddletown.org
1,400 New Retail/Service Jobs
http://citymanagermiddletown.com/2016/02/17/1400-new-retailservice-jobs/" rel="nofollow - - FEBRUARY
17, 201
When I approached this, I wanted to create a
mathematical model that made it possible to reach our $3.8 million new revenue
goal by 2020. If we can do that, we can pave and do all the
other city services needed each year in a sustainable fashion.
In the
prior We Need New Revenues post,
I laid out several sources of new revenues that would start rebuilding our
ability to provide all city services in a sustainable, year to year
fashion. So now we are up to new Retail and Service
positions. I hope to create, over the next five years, 1,400 New
Full Time Equivalent Retail/Service Jobs averaging $10/hr. That, in
turn, would bring in an additional $509,600 per year in new income
tax revenue.
So how do we get there? One bite at a
time. What if, by 2020:
The Towne Mall was 70% full
instead of 70% empty? Towne Mall
has added Gabes, Burlington Coat Factory, and now Planet Fitness. We
will get the benefit of those new jobs starting in 2016. We will be
announcing two new Mall businesses starting construction soon, one a large restaurant
and the other a mid-sized business with multiple locations around the country.
If you drive by the mall, you’ll see that the outside ring has
been paved and they are installing a new sign for the Mall
entrance. We have engaged Buxton to help us recruit retail
throughout the City and we will be working with the Mall owners to help them
fill the remaining mall storefronts and the outlots. Given all of the new
investment and new business within the last year, I don’t believe it is a
stretch to set a goal that the mall will be at least 70% full by 2020.
Downtown was 70% full instead
of 70% empty? I keep hearing “why do we care about
downtown?” Three answers; First, because there is a lot of
potential for new business downtown; second, because downtown is one of the
many city areas, like the mall, like the airport, like our open industrial and
commercial areas, where there are opportunities to expand jobs and new business
in the City. To ignore any one of them leaves us operating at less
than our best; and third, because most resurging older cities are seeing
tremendous interest in downtown, urban living. I try to stay up on
what other cities are doing successfully across the country. There is a
renewed interest in community and downtowns around the country. Places
like Liberty Township,
who don’t have a downtown, are trying to capture that interest and
create a downtown feel with Liberty Center,
an area with walkable streets, outside shops, and apartment living on the
Center grounds.
Downtown already has a nice start. Let’s let them finish
what they’ve started. Downtown Middletown Inc., will be completing a new
Master Plan for downtown in 2016 based on the Main Street Concept. Google
it if you get a chance. In 2015, a housing study was completed for
downtown that demonstrated demand for over 1,000 new residential housing units
in the next 10 years. I’m not sure I buy into that number, but even if it
is a couple hundred new condos/apartments, etc., over the next decade, there is
going to be a demand for resident neighborhood services nearby.
The Butler
Metroparks River
Center is still on path
to start construction this spring. The $1.2 million center will offer
meeting rooms and amenities along the bike path. Speaking of the
bike path, we want to look at connecting the bike path to downtown and we have
gathered most of the funding to complete the bike trail between Middletown and Franklin
in 2020.
Windamere Events Center is open
and booking weddings.
What if Sorg Opera House got open during the next five years and
was having concerts on a regular basis?
Central Tap & Pint is under construction. Cincinnati
Pizza by the Slice has bought the old Buck’s Tavern with plans to open a new
location. Liberty Spirits is planning to be open before the end of
2016. One Bistro restaurant is seeking a permanent location
downtown. Downtown business is slowly starting to creep up Central Avenue
towards University.
We have the first Designated Outdoor Refreshment Area in Ohio and hope to be
utilizing it well over the next few years with music and events downtown.
The Manchester Inn and Sonshine building continue to struggle to
come to fruition but I still believe there is potential to bring these projects
to construction within the next few years. I hope it will be much sooner,
but these are risky projects and getting sufficient investment to start
construction is taking more patience than I’m happy with, but it is what
it is.
Most of this is now happening with little City support. We
started the investment by partnering with BeauVerre on their
building. We added Cincinnati State, Pendleton
Arts Center
and now Windamere through city owned buildings. Now that many of
those places are established, we can get to more of a support role instead of
leading the pack.
I think it is reasonable to set a goal of having downtown
storefronts 70% full by 2020, with the supporting retail/service jobs
associated with those new businesses.
I have one other concept for the residents to think about on
downtown and other areas of town with dilapidated buildings… what do we, as a
city, do with absentee owners who do not or can not take care of their
buildings? I keep hearing “let the private market take care of the
situation.” OK…then what do we do as a city when the private market
fails? Look at the old Middletown Journal building, the old library on First Avenue, and
the Reed Klopp building on Central
Avenue. They are all in severe states of
disrepair. There is reason to believe that none of the existing owners
have resources sufficient to stabilize and redevelop the buildings.
That means I can 1) ignore the problem until it becomes another Orman building
or Rose Furniture and collapses, and then we have to take action as a
public safety issue; (after billing for demolition, we foreclose and likely own
the vacant lot); 2) I can abate the nuisance, bill the owner and then take
ownership of the building when the owner can’t/doesn’t pay the
taxes… (oops, we are owning buildings again); or we can take action
to seize the building while it is still in ok shape and try to put it back into
play after spending tax dollars to stabilize, repair, etc., (oops, owning
buildings again.). I don’t have any interest in owning and
redeveloping buildings. However, there comes a time when the market fails
and the city is the only one left to take action. The question really is
“when is the right time to take action and under what conditions?”
We struggle with that question often.
East End
There are 600 acres on the East End
by Interstate 75. As we add new businesses near AK Steel’s Research
and Innovation Center, there is going to be a growing need for support services
such as the new gas station going in at the old Putt Putt lot and a need for
additional restaurants, etc., in support of Atrium, AK Steel, and other new
businesses.
Commercial Shopping Centers
Finally, we have many shopping centers around town in various
stages of repair and vacancy. I will be reaching out to the owners and
property managers over time with an invitation to partner with
owners to make repairs and clean up of those properties in
return for the City using Buxton to assist them in filling empty spaces.
There are certainly opportunities all over town to add local, regional, and
national retailers to those properties. The City of Columbus has a nice program to assist local
business owners and we’ll be looking at how we could adapt that program here.
Just between Gabe’s, Burlington Coat Factory and Planet fitness
you have a couple hundred new jobs. Getting 1,400 new jobs won’t be a
sprint. It will be a marathon. 15 jobs here. 50 jobs
there. Every large restaurant helps. Every mom and pop shop helps.
Every retailer recruited to fill an empty shopping center helps. We take
advantage of opportunities and do the right thing every day and we can hit this
number.
Have a great day!
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