A case of the blahs
By NewsPress Now
As far as Downtown St. Joseph goes, the area around Eighth and Faraon streets could be much worse.
A couple of new houses appear forlorn as the wind whistles through the well-tended grass on an otherwise lonely city block. To the north, a roundabout intersection doesn’t exist to control local traffic as much as to trip up nervous teenagers taking the driving exam.
This area isn’t an eyesore as much as … blah. It certainly doesn’t live up to the pretentious name that was bestowed on this part of town when the city tried to redevelop the former Heartland West hospital campus.
The Uptown redevelopment flop could serve as a cautionary tale for the current City Council and the dream of bringing in a new Downtown hotel to anchor the Civic Arena. Like past efforts after Heartland West closed, this council and city administration did deliver on the goal of blight removal.
Today, a visitor does not have to witness the scene of decay that would come with an empty and deteriorating hospital or hotel property on the edge of Downtown. That’s no small feat considering the vacant commercial buildings – Kmart, Woodson Children’s Psychiatric Hospital, etc. – that paint a picture of economic malaise throughout St. Joseph.
But that same visitor might drive past the empty lot that once housed Heartland West or the Downtown hotel and think that something remains unfinished. Some of this is due to bad timing. Uptown redevelopment plans came just after the 2008 housing crash and recession. The highest interest rates in four decades dashed dreams of starting construction soon for a new Courtyard by Marriott Hotel.
In the case of the hotel, this delay isn’t necessarily the city’s fault given that interest rates are squeezing commercial construction across the country. However, investors do seem awfully quick to pull back when times get tough in a place like Downtown St. Joseph.
What happens when the economy improves? Just take a walk through that 18-lot subdivision at the former Heartland West site. There’s plenty of elbow room.
The city should do what is reasonable to support Downtown redevelopment through infrastructure investment and smart incentives, but the Marriott delay shows this policy has its limits. The council should understand this and resist the urge the double down on an additional subsidy to bring in a hotel.
In short, Downtown won’t fully turn the corner until it becomes a viable target for private investment without the helping hand of stimulus funds or various taxpayer-financed incentive programs.
Until that happens, Downtown will be stuck with a case of the blahs.
