Mayor says $5 million remains available for redevelopment; broker to be hired to pursue alternate site

Mayor Dorinda Borer updated the City Council May 11 on progress toward a large redevelopment effort and said the city is readying a broker to pursue opportunities on the opposite side of Kimberly Avenue.

Borer said environmental cleanup work has taken place at a 26-acre site under contract with the Simon Group, but that a prior administration initiated a $2 million payment intended to help that developer without a finalized contract. "The prior administration was supposed to have a contract with the Simon Group... they never executed the contract," the mayor said, describing a situation the city is now working to rectify.

Borer told the council there is still $5,000,000 available that could be repurposed toward redevelopment efforts elsewhere in the gateway area. "So the only good news out of that is that... there's $5,000,000 sitting there," she said. City staff recently completed an RFP and selected a broker who will be hired imminently to market and pursue projects for the city's redevelopment objectives.

The mayor said the city plans to focus efforts "on the other side of Kimberly Avenue," an area officials described as distressed and a potential gateway for investment if buildings are abated and sites readied. Borer said the city's strategy includes leveraging the broker's outreach to attract developers once parcels are prepared and the city's cleanup work is evident.

What's next: the mayor said a broker contract will be signed "any day," after which outreach and marketing will begin. The council did not vote on any specific redevelopment contract at the May 11 meeting.