State of the Downtown: Looking up, expecting growth, welcoming students

Downtown Kalamazoo Incorporated revealed a new structure, new data and a "new attitude" at its Nov. 20 State of the Downtown event, with support from guest speakers Mayor Bobby Hopewell, Western Michigan University President John Dunn and Kalamazoo Valley Community College’s executive vice president Mike Collins.

DKI has served as a non-governmental partner of the Downtown Development Authority since 1988, managing business development programs, image marketing and event planning. Since its last State of the Downtown report in 2012, the private organization has grappled with funding challenges and staff cuts.

"This a pretty challenging but also exciting time for downtown Kalamazoo," DKI President Steve Deisler told local officials, business owners and other stakeholders. "We’ve been through about 18 months of deep work, deep analysis (and) deep soul-searching," resulting in "a new strategy for downtown, DKI and ultimately for the city."

New identity

One key change is that DKI will fold the former Downtown Kalamazoo Associated Charities into its operations and function as a 501(c)(3) charitable organization. In addition to receiving donations, DKI expects to maintain financial stability through the current TIF (tax increment financing) funding and .2 mill tax.

"We’re going to continue our public-private partnership," Deisler emphasized. "That’s been a very successful organizational structure for DDA/DKI." However, "we’re stepping a little bit away from the large economic development leader that we’ve been in the past. We’re getting more into service support, small business support and support for our merchants, and providing more services in terms of a clean and safe environment downtown."

Referring to a chart of the new structure (featured in this handout), Deisler said the steering committee wanted to make the relationships between downtown partnerships more clear to the community, "so they know what each organization is doing, who reports to whom, who’s providing the financing, who’s managing those dollars and who is implementing and carrying out those various tasks."

One of DKI’s top priorities now is focusing on communications and events. "We’re learning that we need to educate people more, we need to share our tasks, our activities, our goals with the community and make sure they know what we’re doing, and allow them to interact with the organization," Deisler explained.  "One of the results of that plan is the current 2014 holiday campaign, a very innovative effort between our Communications & Events committee and a variety of partners."

Denise Negrea, DKI’s downtown engagement coordinator, says the Communications & Events group focuses on branding and enhancing the downtown experience. They collaborated extensively with merchants for this year’s holiday effort, resulting in the Only Downtown Kzoo campaign. Negrea says the concept, created and designed by Peter Brakeman of Brakeman Designs, has been well-received. The website includes events, shops, eateries, gift ideas and free parking locations.

"Things had been tightening (financially), so in order to have this full-fledged holiday campaign that was effective, big, ‘in-your-face’ and pretty, we sought out sponsors and got some really good feedback," Negrea explains. "The Downtown Kalamazoo Retail and Restaurant Association pitched in, plus Greenleaf Hospitality, V&A Bootery, Gazelle Sports and Millenium Restaurants. We had so much support." One new holiday perk is "Free Parking Thursdays" in the Epic Ramp on East South Street, which started Nov. 20 and runs through Dec. 25.

Who’s downtown?

The committee also worked on a major demographic research project this summer, hoping to better define downtown dwellers and patrons. The project, with funding from the Kalamazoo Community Foundation and in collaboration with the Retail & Restaurant Association, the Arts Council of Greater Kalamazoo, Discover Kalamazoo, Central City Parking and the Radisson Plaza, gathered 3,240 survey responses between June and August. "Everyone has a different idea of who’s down here, what they’re spending and what they’re doing," Negrea said. "It was time to do some real research."

One of the findings: People who frequent downtown the most are spending less than $50 each visit. Negrea says the committee used that data to create a "more narrow-focused" holiday shopping promotion featuring items under $50. Gift ideas include handmade journals from the Kalamazoo Book Arts Center ($20 each), Amy Zane ties ($38) and vintage license plate key chains ($10) from Bella Patina.

Another finding: Visitors’ biggest single source of information about downtown Kalamazoo is now Facebook. "Social media has been very important to folks finding information about where to go, what to do, the opportunities we have downtown," Mayor Hopewell told the audience. "Even our Boomers are using social media more and more."

Hopewell challenged longtime downtown partners to appreciate the younger generation of influencers now involved. "We have leaders now that are … not Boomers, that are Gen-Xers and Millennials doing some fine things," he said. "This is what we’ve always hoped for in our downtown, and sometimes these folks don’t get recognized."

Campuses draw students and more

Indeed, a new influx of youth frequenting the developing "healthy corridor" in the south quadrant of downtown represents a real boon to the area’s prospects. John Dunn pointed out that WMU’s new downtown-based WMU Homer Stryker M.D. School of Medicine has drawn more than 200 medical residents, in addition to the 54 students in this fall’s inaugural class. "They, too, are in the process of falling in love with Kalamazoo," he said, along with families of students and others connected to the school. "We have the opportunity to have guests, visitors and speakers (come) in who are learning more about who we are, and also staying in our hotels, eating at our restaurants, buying things--and that’s in the interest of all of us." (The school will be a stop on the city's monthly Art Hop from 5 to 8 p.m. Friday, Dec. 5, with self-guided tours for visitors.)

And more are coming: Mike Collins said KVCC’s Healthy Living Campus, now under development nearby, should bring 800 students to the area. The campus, a partnership with Bronson Healthcare and Kalamazoo Community Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services, will house the college’s allied health programs as well as a new culinary school and food innovation program. Along with the medical school, it will create a transformational "critical mass," Collins said. "This is going provide another outstanding amenity to the city of Kalamazoo."

With growth comes more demand for downtown housing. The residential vacancy rate has dipped to just 2.5 percent and Deisler said an upcoming study is expected to indicate the need for about 500 more downtown units in the next five to ten years.  

Breakthrough year

Recognizing that now’s the time to seize the market and build new businesses, Deisler said DKI is accepting applications for grants of $5,000 to $10,000 for its new Downtown Innovation Program, described as a "meshing" of two previous entities: the Business Incubator Program and Business Recruitment Retention Incentive Program. The Innovation Program will emphasize bringing established businesses downtown, while still supporting startups.

Although the Great Recession’s impact still lingers, Deisler believes things are looking up. "We’re confident that next year’s going to be our breakthrough year, to come back to generate more property tax through our TIF programs, to work together to generate more funding for all our projects and programs downtown."

One of those projects is the long-awaited development of four city blocks in the northwest quadrant of downtown. Deisler announced that DKI was sending out a Request for Qualifications to local and regional developers for the Arcadia Commons West Redevelopment Area. "We’ve all been waiting for a project to occur here," he said. "I think it’s the right time to go out and seek interest from a group or team that could step forward over the next year or so."

The Request for Qualifications describes Arcadia Commons West as a joint endeavor of WMU, the City of Kalamazoo, the DDA and Downtown Tomorrow, Inc. According to the document, the collaboration is "seeking a vision that maximizes land values, urban design and community integration," with a preference for mixed land use and mixed-income residential development.

DKI has "always been here to help promote, develop and maintain downtown," Deisler told those gathered. "But we want to carry it to the next level." The difference now, he said, is a new attitude.

"The economy and the challenges we face have brought us all to the table, thinking more creatively. This allows us to work together in a way that creates solutions and better projects. We can’t do it without collaboration. This is a theme throughout the discussion today. Everybody’s working together. Our teams are evolving, our projects are evolving, and everybody that’s tied together on this chart is critical to the success of our downtown."

Cathie Schau is a freelance writer and owner of the communications firm GoodPoint. She lives with her family in Portage and steals away to Saugatuck whenever she can.

Neighborhoods: Downtown Kalamazoo, Edison, Arcadia Commons, Southtown, Central City