I got the following email from KCArenaFacts.com, the only one I haven't been able to answer. Can you guys help me with a response tonight? Thanks!
If the arena is supposed to spark downtown business growth, how can we explain the recent actions of the city towards the Crossroads art district?
As I understand it, Jim Leedy's OPIE BRUSH building property taxes went from $700 for 19 years to $17,000 this year. Gallery's were suddenly, after 19 years, told to stop serving wine or face closure (I believe this issue has since been resolved)
Shouldn't the city be offering tax breaks to start business near the crossroads instead of penalizing them?
The property tax bills are a side effect of the popularity of the area. As more businesses move in, demand increases and the property values go up. The same thing happens any neighborhood that goes from blighted to trendy. The exact thing has happened in other cities, including Soho in New York. Property tax collection is a COUNTY function, not city. The property owners there are still negotiating with the county to get it adjusted. It would take a state law to the artists any kind of discount or exemption.
The thing about serving alcohol was really just a case of a city bureaucrat going overboard. Within a month the City Council revised the liquor code so that the Crossroads Community Assocation could get one liquor license to cover all of the galleries on First Fridays.
However, as I understand it, they still have not resolved the alcohol issue in the Crossroads. They are trying to determine how to administer special licenses for the district.
These speculative investors are seeing a huge return on their investments. Our busted tax system is an entirely different issue. Arenas have nothing to do with it. This person's argument is irrelevant to the debate.
This exposes what I have long thought to be a problem with KC's approach to economic development. Areas that show great promise and and have received considerable investment by small businesses receive little cooperation or financial support from the city. Examples that come to mind are 39th street and the Crossroads.
On the other hand, areas where no one was making any private investment (such as 18th and Vine and the area south of Berkeley Park) receive huge amounts of public investment. Don't judge these comments on the basis of your evaluation of either 18th and Vine or the proposed Riverfront development. I'm very excited for what has and what can happen in those areas. It's just that it would make sense to nurture the good that is happening instead of always heading into the economic development desert and starting from nothing.
I find it sad that KC's leaders need to have such a fundamental financial concept as leveraging explained to them.
missingkc wrote:This exposes what I have long thought to be a problem with KC's approach to economic development. Areas that show great promise and and have received considerable investment by small businesses receive little cooperation or financial support from the city. Examples that come to mind are 39th street and the Crossroads.
On the other hand, areas where no one was making any private investment (such as 18th and Vine and the area south of Berkeley Park) receive huge amounts of public investment. Don't judge these comments on the basis of your evaluation of either 18th and Vine or the proposed Riverfront development. I'm very excited for what has and what can happen in those areas. It's just that it would make sense to nurture the good that is happening instead of always heading into the economic development desert and starting from nothing.
I find it sad that KC's leaders need to have such a fundamental financial concept as leveraging explained to them.
What types of public investment in these already developing areas would you suggest? I would think such investments would be seen as invasive by the investors that have already set up shop there. Public investment is being used to do the right thing for areas that are of historical or cultural significance in our city that need a jump start. Saving downtown and 18th and Vine are the right things to do for the city.
We're still TIFing other development and the city is working on plans to help the Crossroads district. I don't think the city has lost sight of these folks, but I also don't think they are planning to build a redevelopment project right in the middle of their organic district.
Here on 39th St. we have a healthy neighborhood that just wants the city to improve the basics like streets, sidewalks, water/sewar lines, police patrols, public transporation, etc. There is really no need for a massive government-subsidized redevelopment project. The small businesses have already revitalized the area with their own money and little city assistance.
I got another question related to Crossroads property taxes. Anyone know why the propert taxes jumped so much this past year rather than it being a steady increase?
Yeah, that seems to be the issue... I've had a few emails about it. Crossroads people worried this will increase the land value even more. The logical response is to tell them to take advantage of it and sell, but that's NOT the answer to give to someone who wants to stay and feels like they're being priced out.
the City should make it easier for the Xroads to thrive - not more difficult.
BUT - as these artist/urban pioneers should already know, when a neighborhood gets more trendy and popular, the prices go up. it is just part of the urban boom/bust cycle. the ones that dislike the changes can settle in new neighborhoods, and new people can take their place in the old hotspot. grassroots renewal at its finest.
artists move in. then gay people and adventurous suburbanites. then some "legit" businesses (i.e. architects, design, PR, etc). then the yuppies follow. by the time the yuppies get there, the artists are 10 blocks in the "dirty" direction, colonizing more dead buildings, and the cycle continues. it's good.
Property is supposed to be re-assesed every two years, but I think Jackson County often gets behind schedule. Plus, it's only been in the last 2-3 years that a lot of private developers "discovered" the Crossroads and become interested buying property there, so that may be part of the sudden jump.
