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Kent still in talks about development Planning for downtown project could take months

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By Matt Fredmonsky
Record-Courier staff writer
A formal development agreement between the city of Kent and Fairmount Properties for construction of a mixed-use development downtown could be at least 60 days away.
In April, Kent City Council chose Fairmount to tackle redevelopment of the approximately 3-acre block bordered by Haymaker Parkway and South DePeyster, Erie and Water streets.
In the same week, Kent City Manager Dave Ruller said the planning process for the project would last well into this summer and perhaps early fall. In an e-mail this week, Ruller wrote that the city and Fairmount Properties have not begun formal negotiations for the project.
"We are still working through the financial pieces of the project," Ruller said. "Our approach is to make sure we have a project that we can afford financially before we proceed into the development agreement.
"At this point we're still dealing mostly with cost estimates ... to make sure we're in the right ballpark," Ruller said. "But ultimately we'll need to finalize design to know exactly what the final project includes."
Ruller said the project also depends upon other aspects of the redevelopment, including a proposed hotel and conference center, parking facilities and master planning efforts. He estimated it could take another 60 to 90 days before the city and Fairmount have a close-to-final design plan and are ready to begin negotiating the development agreement.
Randy Ruttenberg, a principle partner in Fairmount Properties, said he also anticipates a more detailed level of discussion about the development agreement within the next 60 to 90 days.
He anticipates the overall project will cost between $45 million and $55 million. The cost will vary depending upon connections with components of other downtown projects.
"How it's laid out and oriented to both the university's plans and the city's plans remains to be seen," Ruttenberg said.
Until June 2006, the city had an informal memorandum of understanding with California-based Right Dimensions, which was the most recent firm to consider the block for redevelopment. The partnership never culminated in a formal development agreement.
Kent Law Director Jim Silver said having a development agreement in place with Fairmount Properties would protect the interests of both parties.
"In general, it spells out who's going to do what and who's going to pay for what (with) some time guidelines," Silver said. "We never got that far with Right Dimensions."