DDA Talks Downtown Projects

Traverse City Downtown Development Authority (DDA) CEO Jean Derenzy provided board members updates on several key projects in downtown Traverse City Friday as part of her effort to keep the board apprised of her annual work plan. From the redevelopment of two downtown parking lots to extending the Boardman River riverwalk to considering the long-term home of the farmers market and bringing fiber downtown, here’s an overview of the latest in downtown Traverse City projects.

Parking Lots O, P
A committee of DDA board members will begin meeting with Derenzy to discuss the potential redevelopment of parking lot O, a city-owned lot at the corner of Cass and State streets next to The Omelette Shoppe.

Derenzy has targeted the lot as a potentially ideal location for a private-public partnership to convert surface parking – something the DDA aims to replace downtown whenever possible with development, consolidating parking into decks – in order to get the parcel back on tax rolls. Derenzy and board members will consider an array of options for the site, including selling it to the highest bidder and investing the proceeds elsewhere downtown, putting housing on the site, and/or leasing space to a business or nonprofit group. Nonprofit tech incubator 20 Fathoms, currently located in the 101 North Park building, could be one future potential tenant of the site, Derenzy says.

Mayor Jim Carruthers advocated for including some type of “public component” on the site, citing its existing use as a public lot. “That I think needs to be a big part of the discussion and the general use,” he said. “The property’s becoming very valuable. If we do put a civic square right across the street, this is going to be a very dynamic area of town eventually.”

Board members also learned Friday that completion of the reconstruction of downtown’s parking lot P – located next to Living Light Massage near the corner of State and Pine streets (pictured, pre-reconstruction) – has been delayed until spring, with contractors missing a November 15 deadline to finish the project. The DDA has an agreement with property owner Paulos Land Company to combine three parcels into a new parking lot featuring 80 public permitted spaces, as well as spaces for the property owner to use. The construction delay will cause a loss of at least five months of parking revenue for the DDA, with work on the lot unable to resume until April 15 at the earliest, according to Parking Director Nicole VanNess.

“This does put us in a little bit of a situation,” VanNess said. “We’re working to identify the back-up location for permit parking…a lot of the seasonal workforce is not downtown (in the winter) so we can use some of the metered lots to help with that need.” She added she was “not sure why the construction (deadline)” was missed by contractor Elmer's Crane and Dozer, but said the DDA’s contract with the company could allow the DDA to pursue damages related to the delay.

In other parking project updates, Derenzy said the DDA is tentatively scheduled to hold a joint meeting with the city commission in early January to discuss progress on planning for a West Front Street parking deck, and also said a DDA parking committee is working on moving projects forward from the organization’s recently completed transportation demand management (TDM) study. One of those projects is analyzing private surfacing parking lots on East Front Street to see if the DDA can negotiate “lease agreements (to) have some public components within those lots.”

Boardman River Riverwalk
The DDA has finally obtained required permits from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to move ahead with a long-planned extension of the Boardman River riverwalk from the South Union Street bridge to the boundary of Uptown and Riverview Terrace. As part of the project, the bridge’s deteriorating east stairwell will be reconstructed, and a barrier-free walkway built from the public parking lot behind the post office down to the river. Derenzy said she’s in talks with City Engineer Tim Lodge to determine if construction on the project will start this fall, or wait until spring. The project is one of several under review by the Lower Boardman River Leadership Team, a collection of local stakeholders tasked with creating a “unified plan” guiding development and public access projects along the river in downtown Traverse City.

Farmers Market
Plans for a multi-million dollar redevelopment of the Sara Hardy Downtown Farmers Market are on hold as Derenzy works with staff and board members to consider the long-term future of the market.

Derenzy says she plans to focus in the first quarter of 2019 on an overall vision for the market, which will take into consideration work by the Lower Boardman River Leadership Team and the best use of parking lot B – where the market is hosted – given its valuable proximity to the river. “We’ll be looking at, is that the best location (for the market), and do we have other sites for a farmers market that meets all of those needs?” Derenzy says. She adds that finding a site capable of hosting a year-round market could be one factor considered in the long-term planning process.

Fiber
Finally, Derenzy told board members Friday she’s working with Traverse City Light & Power (TCL&P) to help the city-owned utility apply for funding through the USDA for phase one of its planned citywide high-speed fiber Internet network. “Phase one is proposed to be part of downtown, the Eighth Street corridor, and the neighborhoods,” according to Derenzy. “I think it’s in the city’s best interest, and the downtown’s, to get the high-speed fiber. It’s a huge benefit for downtown.” A USDA grant would be one of several potential funding sources for the project, Derenzy says. TCL&P previously indicated construction on the network could begin as soon 2019 – using a phased rollout approach – and be completed by 2020.