01
Feb
2005
Re-development of abandoned industrial sites is, by now, old hat.
But what might be happening in the coming years in Rock Island is something fresh. What's unusual is that the Quad City Industrial Center isn't abandoned at all. The owners have a 20-year redevelopment plan that would phase out industrial uses on the site, making way for residential, commercial, and park space. A 10-year plan focuses on the east side of the site, while the 20-year proposal targets the west side.
Through the redevelopment process, the owners and operators of the 87-acre industrial site, LRC Developers, essentially plan to give the Rock Island riverfront back to the community, from the Quad City Botanical Center to the Moline border.
"The east side of Rock Island hadn't gotten the attention that downtown had," said Jon Christiansen, a co-owner of LRC with his brother Jim. "We need to develop the riverfront." The Quad City Industrial Center currently eats up between a mile and a mile and a half of prime riverfront property, Christiansen said.
The proposal, called the Columbia Park Plan, was developed by Schreiber/Anderson Associates of Madison, Wisconsin. The total cost of the project: an estimated $200 million, Christiansen said. "We're going to take this piece-by-piece," he added.
And while the Christiansens move forward with their re-development plan, to the south of the industrial center Augustana College is working on an unrelated large-scale construction plan. The school's board on Saturday approved a strategic plan that contains roughly $50 million in capital projects, including new student housing. The construction is expected to help the college expand enrollment by 10 percent.
"The timing seems to be right" for both projects, Christiansen said, because they could feed off each other. "Right now the school looks down on an industrial site," he added. "We're taking on a new image."
Phasing Out Industrial
In 1988, the City of Rock Island bought the International Harvester Farmall plant, which had been vacant for more than two years, for a dollar. The city immediately sold the property to LRC, also for a buck. The city owns a small portion of land on the site that the origanal owner had retained for environment remediation.
This riverfront is prime property. The Sylvan Slough features "some of the best fishing in the Quad Cities," Christiansen said, as well as great spots for eagle-watching. While its view of Arsenal Island isn't pristine, it is mostly a wooded area. "There's a beautiful riverfront back there," Christiansen said.
And from a developer perspective, "these are not in wetlands or flood plains," he added.
The first phase of the development would be just north of the Keystone neighborhood, northeast of Augustana College. This would include a park, a community center, some high-density residential development, commercial development, and several mixed-use parcels. (See map for details.)
The second phase - the second decade - focuses on new commercial and medium-density residential development.
Specifically, Christiansen said, he anticipates the construction of condos, an office building, senior-citizen housing, and convenience and drug stores. "Our plan is to oversee the entire development," he said.
For more than a year, he added, LRC has been negotiating with a developer that might take on a quarter of the 10-year development plan, specifically at the east end of the site, where a parking lot now sits. That component - at $10 million to $20 million - could be announced within six months, he said.
"We're starting to do some demolition in spots in the building right now," Christiansen said. "You're going to see some beautification right off the bat."
While the City of Rock Island is supportive of the re-development, it also urges caution. "This plan is still very conceptual in nature," said Greg Champagne, the city's director of community and economic development. "There's a lot of detail that needs to be worked out. A lot of it is going to depend on what the market dictates."
Champagne said that although the city council has gotten a look at the plans, it has not signed off on them. He expects that the proposal will go before the city's plan commission and the council in the coming months.
Some of the city's hesitation certainly has to do with existing industrial tenants. Christiansen said the Quad City Industrial Center presently has between eight and 10 key tenants, including McLaughlin Body, which is making a "major investment" in the site, Champagne said.
McLaughlin Body is shown on the 10-year plan but is replaced by medium-density residential development on the 20-year plan. Champagne stressed that the city is loath to drive the company out of the community. "We don't want to chase businesses out of town," he said. If the development progresses to the point that McLaughlin is incompatible with planned uses, he added, the city work to find an alternative site for the company.
"The 10-year plan is what we're focusing on now," Christiansen said. He added that he anticipates that the land in the long run will make the transition from industrial to commercial, although it might not happen in the 20-year period outlined by the plans. He also noted that the city will work to re-locate companies displaced by re-development.
Dan Carmody, executive director of Renaissance Rock Island, noted that it's time to retire the Quad City Industrial Center. While the center has provided hundreds of jobs over the past two decades, the property's condition suggests that it's coming to the end of its life cycle. "Putting a whole lot of money to keep people in that space doesn't make a whole lot of sense for anybody," he said.
The property is uniquely positioned - between re-development areas in downtown Moline and Rock Island east-to-west, and between the river and Augustana north-to-south - so it represents a great development opportunity. But re-development will be expensive because of infrastructure costs, including roads and the re-location of railroad switches. "Just the infrastructure investment is huge," he said. "It's going to take public investment."
So far, LRC isn't looking for government money for the project. Christiansen said he expects the City of Rock Island to partner with his company on the re-development, but LRC isn't looking for an up-front commitment. "I'm sure the city will be a major player," he said.
Champagne said Rock Island has included $250,000 for building demolition in its budget plan for Fiscal Year 2005-6, which starts April 1. That money would be used on the city-owned portion of the project area.
Down the road, he said, the city might be willing to create a Tax Increment Financing district to assist with infrastructure costs. Gaming revenue and state transportation dollars might also be available, he said.
But that's premature. "There's a lot of detail that needs to be worked out," he said.
Although LRC has developed the Columbia Park Plan on its own, it has consulted with the governments of Rock Island and Moline, River Action, and Augustana. Both cities have planned natural areas near the development, while River Action has spearheaded many bike-path projects in the Quad Cities.
Augustana's Strategic Plan
The re-development of the Quad City Industrial Center isn't being done in conjunction with Augustana's effort, but each could certainly help the other.
According to the school's strategic plan, Augustana anticipates major construction south of the Columbia Park area that would include residence halls, a new student center, renovation of the Old Main dome and refurbishment of the building, and construction or renovation of a building on the lower campus. The plan estimates that those projects will cost between $28 million and $50 million. Furthermore, the plan says that a lower priority is construction or renovation of Bergendoff Hall, at a cost of between $2 million and $5 million.
"We hope to complete those projects over five to seven years," Augustana President Steven Bahls said on Monday. After board review, he said, "Those projects will be closer to $50 million than $30 million."
Bahls said that Augustana will likely start a capital campaign this summer, with the goal of funding construction and achieving other strategic-plan goals, such as enhancing endowments. A monetary target for the campaign will depend on the results of a feasibility study, he said. (Augustana's last capital campaign ended in 2000 after five years, having raised $86 million.)
Because one of the chief goals of the strategic plan is to increase enrollment, he said, "I think they [the construction projects] are critical to the strategic plan." A larger student body will require new housing and classroom space, he noted, and a student center would provide good meeting spaces that would help facilitate senior capstone projects - another strategic-plan initiative.
Beyond providing a more pleasant view for the Augustana campus, Bahls said, the Columbia Park plan could improve the Augustana experience, he said. Lower-density housing in the plan might be attractive for faculty, he noted, and apartments on the east side of development could draw seniors who want to move off-campus. Furthermore, he said, commercial elements of the plan could create a "campustown" that Augustana has always lacked. "We are a strong supporter of the industrial-center plans," Bahls said.
Through the redevelopment process, the owners and operators of the 87-acre industrial site, LRC Developers, essentially plan to give the Rock Island riverfront back to the community, from the Quad City Botanical Center to the Moline border.
"The east side of Rock Island hadn't gotten the attention that downtown had," said Jon Christiansen, a co-owner of LRC with his brother Jim. "We need to develop the riverfront." The Quad City Industrial Center currently eats up between a mile and a mile and a half of prime riverfront property, Christiansen said.
The proposal, called the Columbia Park Plan, was developed by Schreiber/Anderson Associates of Madison, Wisconsin. The total cost of the project: an estimated $200 million, Christiansen said. "We're going to take this piece-by-piece," he added.
And while the Christiansens move forward with their re-development plan, to the south of the industrial center Augustana College is working on an unrelated large-scale construction plan. The school's board on Saturday approved a strategic plan that contains roughly $50 million in capital projects, including new student housing. The construction is expected to help the college expand enrollment by 10 percent.
"The timing seems to be right" for both projects, Christiansen said, because they could feed off each other. "Right now the school looks down on an industrial site," he added. "We're taking on a new image."
Phasing Out Industrial
In 1988, the City of Rock Island bought the International Harvester Farmall plant, which had been vacant for more than two years, for a dollar. The city immediately sold the property to LRC, also for a buck. The city owns a small portion of land on the site that the origanal owner had retained for environment remediation.
This riverfront is prime property. The Sylvan Slough features "some of the best fishing in the Quad Cities," Christiansen said, as well as great spots for eagle-watching. While its view of Arsenal Island isn't pristine, it is mostly a wooded area. "There's a beautiful riverfront back there," Christiansen said.
And from a developer perspective, "these are not in wetlands or flood plains," he added.
The first phase of the development would be just north of the Keystone neighborhood, northeast of Augustana College. This would include a park, a community center, some high-density residential development, commercial development, and several mixed-use parcels. (See map for details.)
The second phase - the second decade - focuses on new commercial and medium-density residential development.
Specifically, Christiansen said, he anticipates the construction of condos, an office building, senior-citizen housing, and convenience and drug stores. "Our plan is to oversee the entire development," he said.
For more than a year, he added, LRC has been negotiating with a developer that might take on a quarter of the 10-year development plan, specifically at the east end of the site, where a parking lot now sits. That component - at $10 million to $20 million - could be announced within six months, he said.
"We're starting to do some demolition in spots in the building right now," Christiansen said. "You're going to see some beautification right off the bat."
While the City of Rock Island is supportive of the re-development, it also urges caution. "This plan is still very conceptual in nature," said Greg Champagne, the city's director of community and economic development. "There's a lot of detail that needs to be worked out. A lot of it is going to depend on what the market dictates."
Champagne said that although the city council has gotten a look at the plans, it has not signed off on them. He expects that the proposal will go before the city's plan commission and the council in the coming months.
Some of the city's hesitation certainly has to do with existing industrial tenants. Christiansen said the Quad City Industrial Center presently has between eight and 10 key tenants, including McLaughlin Body, which is making a "major investment" in the site, Champagne said.
McLaughlin Body is shown on the 10-year plan but is replaced by medium-density residential development on the 20-year plan. Champagne stressed that the city is loath to drive the company out of the community. "We don't want to chase businesses out of town," he said. If the development progresses to the point that McLaughlin is incompatible with planned uses, he added, the city work to find an alternative site for the company.
"The 10-year plan is what we're focusing on now," Christiansen said. He added that he anticipates that the land in the long run will make the transition from industrial to commercial, although it might not happen in the 20-year period outlined by the plans. He also noted that the city will work to re-locate companies displaced by re-development.
Dan Carmody, executive director of Renaissance Rock Island, noted that it's time to retire the Quad City Industrial Center. While the center has provided hundreds of jobs over the past two decades, the property's condition suggests that it's coming to the end of its life cycle. "Putting a whole lot of money to keep people in that space doesn't make a whole lot of sense for anybody," he said.
The property is uniquely positioned - between re-development areas in downtown Moline and Rock Island east-to-west, and between the river and Augustana north-to-south - so it represents a great development opportunity. But re-development will be expensive because of infrastructure costs, including roads and the re-location of railroad switches. "Just the infrastructure investment is huge," he said. "It's going to take public investment."
So far, LRC isn't looking for government money for the project. Christiansen said he expects the City of Rock Island to partner with his company on the re-development, but LRC isn't looking for an up-front commitment. "I'm sure the city will be a major player," he said.
Champagne said Rock Island has included $250,000 for building demolition in its budget plan for Fiscal Year 2005-6, which starts April 1. That money would be used on the city-owned portion of the project area.
Down the road, he said, the city might be willing to create a Tax Increment Financing district to assist with infrastructure costs. Gaming revenue and state transportation dollars might also be available, he said.
But that's premature. "There's a lot of detail that needs to be worked out," he said.
Although LRC has developed the Columbia Park Plan on its own, it has consulted with the governments of Rock Island and Moline, River Action, and Augustana. Both cities have planned natural areas near the development, while River Action has spearheaded many bike-path projects in the Quad Cities.
Augustana's Strategic Plan
The re-development of the Quad City Industrial Center isn't being done in conjunction with Augustana's effort, but each could certainly help the other.
According to the school's strategic plan, Augustana anticipates major construction south of the Columbia Park area that would include residence halls, a new student center, renovation of the Old Main dome and refurbishment of the building, and construction or renovation of a building on the lower campus. The plan estimates that those projects will cost between $28 million and $50 million. Furthermore, the plan says that a lower priority is construction or renovation of Bergendoff Hall, at a cost of between $2 million and $5 million.
"We hope to complete those projects over five to seven years," Augustana President Steven Bahls said on Monday. After board review, he said, "Those projects will be closer to $50 million than $30 million."
Bahls said that Augustana will likely start a capital campaign this summer, with the goal of funding construction and achieving other strategic-plan goals, such as enhancing endowments. A monetary target for the campaign will depend on the results of a feasibility study, he said. (Augustana's last capital campaign ended in 2000 after five years, having raised $86 million.)
Because one of the chief goals of the strategic plan is to increase enrollment, he said, "I think they [the construction projects] are critical to the strategic plan." A larger student body will require new housing and classroom space, he noted, and a student center would provide good meeting spaces that would help facilitate senior capstone projects - another strategic-plan initiative.
Beyond providing a more pleasant view for the Augustana campus, Bahls said, the Columbia Park plan could improve the Augustana experience, he said. Lower-density housing in the plan might be attractive for faculty, he noted, and apartments on the east side of development could draw seniors who want to move off-campus. Furthermore, he said, commercial elements of the plan could create a "campustown" that Augustana has always lacked. "We are a strong supporter of the industrial-center plans," Bahls said.
