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Downtown master plan update: 78 new businesses since 2019 and work underway on upper‑story housing and placemaking
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Summary
Downtown Hutchinson and partners presented progress on the downtown master plan, reporting new business growth, loan activity and subcommittee work on design, policy and placemaking; staff outlined priorities for 2025 including zoning overlays, festival streets and continued support for the Landmark rehabilitation and Memorial Hall.
Downtown Hutchinson and the Reno County Chamber of Commerce presented a multi‑year update on implementation of the downtown master plan at the Jan. 21 council meeting, detailing business growth, loan activity and the formation of subcommittees to advance design, policy and partnerships.
Sarah Diamond, downtown manager with Downtown Hutch and the Hutchinson Reno County Chamber of Commerce, said the downtown master plan has produced measurable results and moved several projects toward execution. “There have been 78 new businesses in Downtown Hutchinson since 2019,” Diamond said. She described outreach steps including public surveys, stakeholder forums at Memorial Hall and a technical committee that includes city staff and community partners.
Diamond outlined four implementation subcommittees created in 2024: design and placemaking, policy, programming and partnerships/outreach. Tony Finley, representing HutchRec, said the design/placemaking subgroup met with more than 15 small businesses to identify catalyst sites, maintenance needs and public gathering concepts. Matt Williams, director of community development, said the policy subgroup will focus this year on zoning overlays for downtown, festival streets and replacement of downtown street furniture, and will continue to support rehabilitation projects such as the Landmark and Memorial Hall through the STAR bond process.
Diamond also reported on the Incentives Without Walls (IWW) loan program administered by Downtown Hutchinson in partnership with Kansas Main Street: Downtown Hutchinson is servicing 16 active loans, and three loans were approved in 2024, including for a spa, a bicycle shop and an automotive business. She said the IWW program has supported about 57 net new jobs over the life of the program and that more businesses are inquiring about loan options.
The technical committee said it will continue to pursue upper‑story housing incentives, leverage Kansas Department of Commerce and Kansas Main Street grant opportunities (including rooms grants and upper‑level housing grants), and to coordinate training and placemaking work with regional partners. The council thanked staff and Downtown Hutchinson for the presentation and asked staff to continue coordinating zoning and infrastructure items tied to the master plan.
City staff and Downtown Hutchinson said the next steps for 2025 include continued outreach to business owners, sharing grant and loan opportunities, hosting Kansas Main Street training in Hutchinson later in the year, and advancing catalyst projects such as the Salt City Business College renovation and the Hope Building marketing efforts.
