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HomeMy WebLinkAboutDowntown Development Authority - Minutes - 08/03/2006DOWNTOWN DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY Regular Directors' Meeting Steve Taylor, Chair Kurt Kastein, Council Liaison Linda Gula, Staff Liaison MINUTES of August 3, 2006 221-0524 (W) 223-0425 (W) 484-2020 (W) REGULAR MEETING The Board of Directors of the Downtown Development Authority met in Regular Session at 7:30 a.m, on August 3, 2006 in the Meeting Room at Home State Bank located at 303 East Mountain Avenue, Fort Collins, CO 80524. PRESENT George Brelig McCabe Callahan Carey Hewitt, Secretary/Treasurer Kim Jordan William Sears Patty Spencer Jack Wolfe, Vice Chair Karen Weitkunat ABSENT Steve Taylor, Chair Kurt Kastein STAFF Robert Steiner, DDA Executive Director Matt Robenalt, DDA Project Manager Linda Gula, DDA Staff Lucia Liley, Counsel GUESTS Darin Atteberry, Kathy Cardona, David Short, John Reid, Ryan Keiffer, Guy Boyd, Gary Knuckols, Matt Poncelo, Julie Brewen. CALL TO ORDER Mr. Wolfe called the meeting to order at 7:35 a.m. Roll call was taken, APPROVAL OF MINUTES Ms. Weitkunat moved to approve the minutes of July 6, 2006. Seconded by Ms. Jordan and passed unanimously. DDA BOARD MINUTES PAGE AUGUST 3, 2006 BAS BLEU THEATER Mr. Steiner outlined a request from Bas Bleu for a DDA commitment toward the renovation of the Giddings Building which houses the theater. The request is for a commitment only and would be used by the Theater as a way to leverage additional fund-raising efforts. Bas Bleu has a three-phase funding program: the first is to raise the money necessary to acquire the building from a limited liability company set up by Tom Sutherland as a method to hold the property; the second phase includes the actual renovation of the building; the third phase is to fund an endowment. DDA funds would be used in the second phase — they are asking the DDA to earmark $250,000 for phase two external improvements. Mr. Ryan Kieffer, President of the Bas Bleu Board, presented an overview of the planned improvements to the Giddings Building. He stated the first phase was expected to be completed by the end of 2006. Mr. Hewitt questioned why this amount is higher than the usual amount we would consider. Mr. Steiner stated he thought this was an important project well worth the investment. There were Board questions and discussion concerning storm drainage improvements, where the DDA is on its current expenditures, and how the Sutherland gift is structured. Ms. Jordan moved to commit funding up to $250,000 pending Bas Bleu going through the entire DDA review process. Seconded by Ms. Spencer and passed unanimously. POUDRE FIRE AUTHORITY Mr. Steiner stated that earlier this year the DDA Board agreed to lease the small pocket park (next to the Remington Street Parking Structure) to the Poudre Fire Authority which intends to expand its administrative offices on the site. The Board requested that it be given the opportunity to review the design of the expanded building. He stated no funds are being requested from the DDA. Staff believes the design is in keeping with the original structure. Mr. Guy Boyd and Mr. Gary Knuckols from Poudre Fire Authority and Matt Poncelow from Vaught -Frye were available to answer questions. Discussion and questions focused on the fagade improvements and improving the quality of buildings downtown for the long term; the pocket park; and questions about the lease agreement with PFA. There were suggestions from the Board that the PFA may want to enhance the quality of the construction for the long-term good of the downtown area. Mr. Atteberry suggested that the PFA team meet with Mr. Steiner and go back to look at bumping up the quality of the building perhaps by considering different arch components, streetscapes, and the possibility of adding windows on the north side of the building. Mr. Guy Boyd agreed that this was a good idea. DDA BOARD MINUTES PAGE AUGUST 3, 2006 HOUSING AUTHORITY Mr. Steiner stated the Fort Collins Housing Authority is requesting DDA participation in the renovation of the Linden House Single Room Occupancy (SRO) building located at the comer of Linden and Jefferson. He stated the Housing Authority has leased the building since 1986 and plans to extend that lease for another ten years. The DDA contributed funds when the building was first changed into an SRO facility. The total cost of the renovation is estimated at $162,300 with $23,650 being requested from the DDA for new windows and entryway. The owner of the building has consented to DDA participation in the form of an easement across the front of the building. Mr. Steiner stated Ms. Liley would need to talk about how the DDA could be involved in this project. Ms. Liley stated the DDA would have to get the easement unless the Housing Authority could somehow end up in ownership. She stated if the Housing Authority ended up in ownership then the DDA could do a straight across grant because it could do an Intergovernmental Agreement just like we do with the City as a governmental entity. She stated since it is in private ownership and the DDA would basically be adding to the value of the building itself, then without the easement the DDA would not have appropriate legal standing. Ms. Julie Brewen, Housing Authority Director, stated the owners seemed to be agreeable with an easement in the $23,000 range; it was when they started to look at additional upgrades in the $60,000 and more range that the owners said they may not be quite ready for that. Ms. Brewen suggested it may be helpful for the owners' (Majors) attorney to meet with Ms. Liley to talk about some possible solutions. Ms. Liley agreed to talk to their attorney. Mr. Steiner stated this is a building located in a pretty prominent location downtown and as we expand across Jefferson street and also as traffic travels up and down Jefferson it is a prominent building. He suggested it would be beneficial to "dress it up" if possible. Mr. Hewitt suggested the new DDA fagade program as a possibility and stated it would require a 50% funding match. The Board agreed this would be a positive avenue to pursue. Ms. Weitkunat moved that the DDA support this project up to $50,000 for the fagade renovations with a matching grant proposed through the CDBG funding process. Seconded by Ms. Jordan and passed unanimously. CHERRY STREET STATION COMMITMENT EXTENSION Mr. Steiner stated the DDA Board had committed $184,000 in July, 2005 to the development of Cherry Street Station. The project is through the entitlement process and the owners have requested that the Authority extend its commitment for another 12 months. He stated staff supports this request. DDA BOARD MINUTES PAGE AUGUST 3, 2006 Mr. Sears moved to extend the commitment for Cherry Street Station for 12 months. Seconded by Mr. Callahan and passed unanimously. OTHER BUSINESS Renaming Beet Street — Mr. Steiner stated it is important for the DDA to come up with an official name for Beet Street. He shared some examples of work done by a Boulder company — Cultivator Advertising & Design — that he thought was impressive. He asked the Board for input on the idea of hiring Cultivator to come up with some name ideas. The cost would be approximately $9500. Ms. Jordan suggested for the price to try to get a logo as well. The Board expressed support for hiring Cultivator to come up with a new name and logo. Mr. Brelig moved to support an expenditure of up to $9500 to hire an advertising firm to come up with an official name for Beet Street and to also include a logo. Seconded by Mr. Hewitt and passed unanimously. Police Issues/ Downtown Police Substation 1— Ms. Weitkunat stated as part of the City's budget process the Downtown Police Substation 1 is on the budget cut list She encouraged the Board and also included informing the Downtown Business Association to let City Council know of any concerns about the Substation being removed from the downtown area. She stated City Council would be interested in receiving feedback from both the DDA and DBA Boards and also downtown merchants. The Board had an extensive discussion on the problems that occur downtown and the effects on pedestrians and businesses. The general concensus was it would be devastating to downtown to Iose Substation One. UPDATES Downtown River District Enhancements — Mr. Steiner stated the staff and the consultant team have evaluated more than 60 alternative streettsidewalk ROW alternatives in the project area. From the original 60 alternatives, it has been narrowed to approximately 18 alternatives that will be presented to business/property owners and CDOT first, and then to the general public for preference selections. One of the possibilities is a roundabout This could create a great "gateway" to Fort Collins. Mr. Steiner stated he wanted to give a heads up that this may be coming to the Board. Downtown Hotel - Corporex has been selected to negotiate the development of a downtown hotel. The company is based in Cincinnati but has a large presence in Denver. Staff has generated a list of preliminary questions for the company to answer. A negotiating team needs to be put together and should include DDA legal counsel and at least one Board member. DDA BOARD MINUTES PAGE 5 AUGUST 4, 2006 Negotiation Team: Lucia, Liley, Steve Roy, Greg Byrne, Chip Steiner and Bill Sears volunteered as the DDA Board member. Trip to Chautauqua New York — Mr. Atteberry reported on the trip to Chautauqua. He stated it was an incredible experience and felt it was time well spent. He stated the meeting with the Executive Director of Chautauqua was important and an excellent relationship building exercise. He went on to note that Chautauqua, New York has a great campus and terrific programming. He stated he thought the concept would be very doable in our non -campus environment. Sales Tax Update — Mr. Atteberry distributed copies of the July 2006 Sales Tax Report. He noted a 12.3% increase in the Arts, Hotel & Food category from July 2005 to July 2006. The YTD increase is 6.2% in this category. Election Update Mr. Steiner stated work is progressing for the upcoming DDA Election. Citizens for Downtown is the name of the group that will work on the bond ceiling campaign. The name has been registered and a bank account has been set up at First National Bank — checks can be sent to Jack Wolfe. A master contact list of eligible voters has been created to facilitate the educational outreach. ADJOURN There being no further business, the meeting adjourned 9:25 a.m. � I'n Carey HeArift, Secretary