Comment on Springfield creates downtown development authority

Springfield creates downtown development authority

The City of Springfield has created a Downtown Development Authority to oversee revitalization of properties on Laurel Street. City Manager Brett Bennett said council members were looking for a way to influence what happens at the former Walt’s furniture building, which the city purchased for $115,000 last May. Council members have said they would like to see the building’s appearance improved and they’d like to see activity and jobs there. But if the city sold the building, it would have to surplus the property and then take the highest bid, with no say over what would happen there. Now, the city can give the building to the DDA, which can then negotiate a deal with a specific buyer and can include clauses that would require a certain use or a certain number of jobs to be created. “It’s just like the IDA (Effingham County Industrial Development Authority) only on a much, much, much smaller scale,” Bennett said. Bennett said some potential buyers had said they wanted to use the building for storage, and that’s a use the council would rather avoid. Council members would rather see offices or retail space, possibly even a restaurant in the 25,000-square-foot building at 405 N.

 

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