The Columbus Redevelopment Authority gave the green light Wednesday to formally request proposals from interested developers for Burns Bottom.
The advertisement seeks proposals for redeveloping all or part of the five-block neighborhood between Third and Fourth Street and Second and Seventh Avenue North.
Advertising will begin Feb. 22, including in The Dispatch and publications outside the area, board president Marthalie Porter said. CRA members also will reach out to real estate developers. It will also be uploaded to the CRA’s website.
If all goes to plan, the board hopes to negotiate with and finalize the selection of a developer sometime between June and August.
The RFP requires developers to propose whether they intend to purchase or lease all or portions of Burns Bottom, along with proposed purchase or lease prices. Each proposal must also include details of the developer’s project vision with narrative descriptions and/or visual descriptions, whether the plan has multiple phases, anticipated types of usage and the project’s preliminary budget.
Several factors will be considered in responses, including financial capacity to complete the project, quality of proposed housing, provision of ample and quality public spaces and incorporation of sustainability measures.
Burns Bottom redevelopment has been on the CRA’s radar since 2015, and it began purchasing lots in the area two years later. Over five years, CRA acquired 70 lots there — some vacant lots but many with dilapidated structures — with the goal of preparing and marketing the neighborhood for residential and commercial redevelopment.
The RFP document provides context to the history of Columbus, along with maps and descriptions of the Burns Bottom site, including a parcel map, a water and sewer line map and a zoning map.
Further, it explains CRA “seeks to transform the site into a destination for residential living accompanied by dining, shopping and other amenities.” It also says the developer selected would ideally “incorporate a variety of uses to stimulate activity at the site, such as street-facing retail.”
“We want to show (developers) that (the CRA has) gone through enough hoops to know that the property is viable for development,” said City Engineer Kevin Stafford, who helped develop the RFP.
The RFP schedule also sets aside time in March for interviews and site visits from inquiring developers seeking more information.
Proposals will be accepted until April 26. From there, interviews with select RFP respondents are targeted for the week of May 20.
Incentives on hand
Last year, the legislature appropriated the CRA $3 million to funnel toward the Burns Bottom redevelopment. Those funds must be used on public infrastructure projects such as underground utilities, site grading and drainage and other qualifiers, but there are no hard limitations on what the funds might be used for on the public rights-of-way. These details are laid out in the RFP, along with other possible incentives like tax rebates and tax benefits.
Stafford said the funds will serve as an attraction to developers.
“That’s a big incentive with cash in hand,” he said. “All these other things are things we could offer you. This is something on the table that you’re going to need to use.”
The CRA has yet to claim that money because it will start the clock on when it must be spent. Instead, the board wants to see how developers who respond to the RFP plan to use that money.
Turnage told The Dispatch after the meeting that the board is still on track to accept the funds from the state before the June deadline, regardless of whether a developer is under contract.
Public interest meeting
The board also approved scheduling a public interest meeting with the help of the Columbus Arts Council.
Porter told the board that the CAC had reached out and offered to host and sponsor the event, at no cost to the CRA.
The event is penciled in for some time next month. Porter said the meeting would allow the CRA to provide a progress report on its activities and allow the public to ask questions.
Kevin Edwards is news editor and reports on Starkville and Oktibbeha County government.
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