by Joe Sullivan
Carrots, not sticks, are becoming the city's stock-in-trade for gaining control over Market Square to support Worsham Watkins' redevelopment plans.
Grants to the square's property owners for improving their buildings are being considered as an inducement to get them to lease their ground floors to the city. The city would, in turn, sublet the premises to WW's designated Market Square developer, John Elkington of Memphis-based Performa, Inc., for incorporation into his plans for overall transformation of the square into a "shoppertainment" complex.
The city's Director of Development Doug Berry stresses that this approach is in a "formulative conceptual" stage with specifics still to be worked out. Moreover, it would only apply to "buildings owned by individuals who are demonstrating the capacity to maintain them and who have occupancy." City acquisition via condemnation is planned for "vacant, blighted buildings whose owners have shown they aren't committed to downtown or their own property."
When all's said and done, Barry says, "I expect there will be some property that the city will acquire and resell, some that retains its present ownership and some new ownership."
Still, the emphasis on reaching an accommodation with the owners of most of the square's 53 parcels represents a refreshing change from the threatening tone of earlier public pronouncements. Those spoke in terms of city acquisition of most, if not all, of the property on the square—or using the threat of condemnation to extract covenants from the owners restricting the use of their property.
"I don't hear anyone even breathing that we would do a wholesale condemnation on Market Square," Berry says, Rather, in the argot of officialdom, he asserts that, "What we're seeking is a win/win/win/ situation in which the property owners, the city and the developers all benefit."
Just how receptive how many owners will be to cutting a deal with the city will depend in large part on the amounts and terms of any grants and leases the city may propose. Since Berry is not yet prepared to place dollar signs on any aspect of his concept, all that the president of the Market Square Association, Bill Ambrose, has to say about it at this point is, "I'm prepared to listen."
Berry envisions that grants would go primarily for fa�ade improvements aimed at creating an overall look consistent with Elkington's plans for converting the largely moribund square into an eclectic mix of restaurants, shops and clubs. He suggests that initial lease terms might be in the 10-year to 20-year range with extension options. "Obviously, they've got to be long enough to let the developer establish and maintain a viable entertainment district," Berry allows.
Such long-term commitments might not be so palatable to owners, but the singular focus on ground floor leases is calculated to curry their favor. That would leave the upper floors of their buildings at the owners' disposal for either commercial or residential use. The square's small but growing population of loft dwellers has felt especially endangered by the prospect that redevelopment plans would impinge on them. Berry is clear that residential development should be encouraged, although noise levels emanating from what he terms "the hottest spot in town" could pose a problem for sensitive ears.
While nearly all the natives would welcome seeing their mostly vacant store fronts become a thriving high rent district, many remain unconvinced that Elkington needs to control all of them in order for this to happen. The Market Square Association's mission statement includes a resolve to "Cooperate with governments and private developers, while constantly seeking to protect the rights of individual property owners and business operators who wish to develop their own properties in a manner consistent with [the city's 1998 Market Square Redevelopment Plan, which contemplated a pluralistic rather than a monolithic approach]." Last week, the association proposed a special zoning code for Market Square aimed at making the point that control over property uses can be accomplished by zoning without need for a czar. The proposed code would, for example, prohibit tattoo parlors, which Elkington has long used to exemplify the type of undesirable activity that would detract from the character of the square.
But Elkington remains insistent that the types of control needed to make the square flourish go far beyond keeping out undesirables. Achieving critical mass, in his view, entails attracting a carefully selected mix of tenants dispersed throughout the square and also regulating their hours of business in much the same manner as does the owner of a mall. The recent closing of Lula restaurant would seem to reinforce Elkington's assessment, coming as it does in the wake of numerous other failures on the part of small fry ventures that have attempted to go-it-alone on the square.
Whether Berry's approach will prove acceptable to Elkington is yet another question that can only be answered after the specifics are fleshed out (not to mention the question of whether Elkington can deliver the diverse array of attractions that he's been heralding). When the possibility of establishing control over Market Square properties through leases has come up in the past, the developers have talked of terms of 50 years or more. And they have also got to be concerned with uses of upper floors and with the sticky question of how to deal with owners who hold out.
Berry isn't there yet and it's not even technically his province to get out front at this stage. All elements of the WW plan are presently before the Public Building Authority, which is due to make its recommendations to the city in December. While Mayor Victor Ashe says he's already encouraged his staff to come up with creative solutions to the Market Square control dilemma, he claims that none have been submitted for his review or approval as yet. But Berry has established a commendable track record of sticking his neck out in the interest of making things happen. Let's hope it doesn't get chopped off.
October 19, 2000 * Vol. 10, No. 42
© 2000 Metro Pulse
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