Hawthorn Plaza Project Still Alive

It appears that the project to renovate the Hawthorn Plaza Hotel near 39th and Main is still on. Given the recent economic downturn, I had feared that it might never be started. I was happy this morning to find an item related to the Hawthorn on Wednesday's agenda for the City Council's Finance and Audit Committee. What may be bad news to some of you, including me , is that TIF funding has been made available to this project by amending the 43rd and Main TIF Plan.

At first, I was happy to support TIF for this project. 39th and Main is easily one of the scariest intersections in midtown. Judging by the KCPD crime map, reality matches perception for this intersection. One thing that would help that area would be property owners with a bird's-eye view of the intersection.

Then I started reading the ordinance and discovered that:

[The area] has not been subject to growth and development through investment by private enterprise and would not reasonably be anticipated to be developed without the adoption of the Sixth Amendment to the 43rd and Main Tax Increment Financing Plan.

Hmm. Let's look at a few facts.

• The building on the Southeast corner of 39th and Main is of fairly modern vintage. I'd guess that it was built within the last 25 years. It contains a bank, a pizza delivery operation, and a tax preparation business.
• Across Main is a CVS Pharmacy that was built within the last ten years.
• On the Northwest corner is a clothing store that opened within the last two years.
  
• A little North of the Clothing Store on Main, the Unicorn Theater recently finished a renovation of its lobby.
• On the Northeast corner is another tax preparation business.
• All in all, the only empty storefronts to be found in the area are on 39th Street, East of Main.

Although the "growth and development" of this intersection has been somewhat slow, I wouldn't call it non existent. Does this area deserve TIF or not? I honestly cannot say.

Still, I would like to suggest a few other things for the City Council, things that might help improve this area without adding to TIF.

• Use city staff to proactively help the businesses in the area form a community improvement district (CID). This will allow the property owners in the area to do things such as streetscaping, advertising, security patrols, and janitorial services.
• Put route-specific advertisements in City buses. This would allow merchants in the area to advertise on the 39, 57, and MAX buses.
  
• Speaking of transportation, since this area is already an intersection for cars and buses, why not make it an intersection for bicycles as well? Add bike racks.

As a place where people wait for the bus, this would also be a good location for a little breakfast/lunch stop such as a coffee shop or bistro, and a newsstand. I don't know what the city could do to attract that, but it's something a CID could certainly tackle.