Recordpub.com - Kent begins plans for redevelopment Design, planning and negotiations on demolition to start in next few months

By Matt Fredmonsky
Record-Courier staff writer
Now that a developer has been chosen, the city of Kent has a lot of work to do in planning the redevelopment of an entire downtown block.
During the next three to six months, city officials and members of Fairmount Properties will begin the design, planning and negotiation phases in preparing to demolish existing structures on the downtown block bordered by Haymaker Parkway and Erie, South Water and South DePeyster streets and construct a mixed-use retail and commercial center with potential for residential space.
Kent City Manager Dave Ruller said the planning process will not be exclusive to city leaders.
"That will involve the community at different levels," Ruller said. "In terms of meetings and comments to what could be in the project, it will take some time. We're very comfortably saying this will take us well into the summer, and perhaps the end of summer.
"It's just going to take that time to get our arms around how to put stuff together in a way that fits and also meets what the developer is hoping to get out of this," Ruller said. "As that starts to come together, we'll get a sense of what the developer is looking for from the city, whether it's financial, land, any parking. We're figuring out what this project is going to be. Once you know that, you can then run your numbers off of that."
Kent Economic Development Director Dan Smith, along with Kent Community Development Director Gary Locke, is readying for a May trip to Las Vegas and the International Council of Shopping Centers Spring Conference. Billed as the world's largest retail real estate show, the conference averages 50,000 plus attendants through 1.5 million square feet of exhibit space.
Smith and Locke will not attend the conference alone. The Buxton Co., a Texas-based retail site selection firm, will help the men arrange meetings with corporate retail representatives and provide a meeting space at the four-day convention. Fairmount representatives also will attend the conference to pitch the redevelopment project to various retailers.
Smith said Kent's identity as a college town will help give it an edge over the nearly 10,000 other municipalities that will attend the conference.
"University towns really seem to be in fashion right now, so it's our job to turn that interest into investment," Smith said. "We're certainly going to go in there and work hard to promote the city of Kent."
Ruller and other city leaders must consider land assemblage as they prepare to redevelop the block. Including the city, six separate entities currently own property within the block. Those owners include Kent State University, the Ricciardi family, TransOhio Properties, Right Dimensions and Jim and Nancy Arthur.
The city has options to purchase the three parcels owned by the Ricciardis, but Kent Law Director Jim Silver is continuing an eminent domain court battle with Right Dimensions about the firm's three parcels.
Silver said the case has been referred to remediation, but a jury trial has been set for March 17, 2009. He expects the trial, which could be over in one day, to resolve the case and set a purchase price for the property.
"I've seen no indication from the other side that they would do anything different than that," Silver said.
The city also will work with an urban planning advisor to help integrate the development project into the downtown area's existing fabric of shops, restaurants and taverns.
Ruller said project management in the next several months will be critical.
"It's an exciting time because things are about to get very busy," he said.