Reviving the Heart

Downtowns are being redeveloped into unique community cores

BY KRIS BEVILL

Downtowns throughout the U.S. are experiencing a period of rejuvenation as residents and visitors seek out the local products, businesses and unique experiences that only downtowns can offer. The national trend is readily on display in this region in communities from Fargo, N.D., to Rapid City, S.D., as whole districts are renovated and new businesses open while development groups devise long-term strategies to ensure their downtowns continue to grow and thrive.

“Downtowns in North Dakota are really picking up steam,” says Kate Herzog, marketing and assistant director of the Downtown Business Association of Bismarck (N.D.).

Herzog credits much of the region’s recent rampedup downtown redevelopment activity to young professionals who have returned to this area for its strong economy but still crave the urban amenities they’ve experienced elsewhere. “A lot of those young professionals have brought back experiences with them from living outside of the state, specifically, supporting urban, local businesses and looking for that downtown element in their personal life,” she says. “We’ve also noticed that the millennial generation would rather live in a great city and have a mediocre job than [have] a great job in a city that they are not having a great experience in. We need to be aware of that and market activities to those young professionals. That’s really what downtown offers.”

Downtowns also offer an attractive development opportunity for communities because the mixed-use developments typical to downtowns produce significant tax revenues without requiring significant infrastructure investments, according to Herzog. “From an economic standpoint, you can’t get much better than redeveloping a dense, urban core in terms of return on investment,” she says.

Bismarck’s downtown has made great strides in its redevelopment efforts recently. Multiple unique eateries and retail stores have opened recently and large developments, including Pine Properties’ three-story Broadway Centre project, will provide more office/retail, restaurant and residential spaces when fully complete later this year. But there is still much more that could be done. A recently completed downtown master plan identifies more than a dozen projects that could be carried out over the next few years. In March, the city was in the process of forming a committee to explore implementation and possible public-private partnerships for projects highlighted in the plan.

One of the items highlighted in the plan is the potential redevelopment of a parking lot at the city’s historic

Northern Pacific Depot into a public gathering space dubbed Depot Plaza. Herzog says a public gathering space is an important component of downtown Bismarck’s longterm vitality. “That is extremely important, not only for the community to gather but to also make the downtown more family friendly,” she says. “We don’t have that iconic gathering space where you might have a Christmas tree lighting or where the public gathers in the summer time.” She points to Rapid City’s Main Street Square as an example of how a gathering space can drive a successful downtown district. “We love what Rapid City has done and we’re hoping to have that piece in downtown Bismarck come up soon,” she says.

Success, Squared

Downtown Rapid City has indeed experienced a rebirth within just the last five years, and Main Street Square has been the engine driving the growth, says Dan Senftner, president and CEO of Destination Rapid City, the city’s downtown development association. The one-acre square includes ample green space, an interactive water fountain and an outdoor stage for summertime events. In the winter, the square’s lawn is converted to an ice skating rink measuring 7,200 square feet.

Senftner estimates up to 700,000 people pass through Main Street Square every year. That number is likely to increase as the number of events held in the square continues to grow. Last year, 170 events were hosted in the square. This year, Senftner says more than 200 events are scheduled.

Since its opening in 2011, Main Street Square’s success in rejuvenating downtown Rapid City has garnered attention from throughout the U.S. and Senftner says he often fields inquiries from business owners and groups looking to create similar outdoor spaces in their own communities. He has one piece of advice to offer: Don’t expect the city to do it all.

“The biggest mistake people have is they expect the city to pay for everything,” he says. “The city won’t pay for everything, and if you expect the city to do everything, it ain’t gonna happen.”

The idea for Main Street Square was initially suggested in 2008 as part of a study conducted to evaluate downtown Rapid City, but it was a group of downtown business owners, including Senftner, who took the notion and ran with it. After the outdoor space was suggested, the business owners formed Destination Rapid City and financially committed to developing the square. The group ultimately split the project’s $7 million bill with the city and also formed a Business Improvement District to fund the square’s operations.

That fund was scheduled to support Main Street Square through the end of this year, but Senftner says funds generated this year will instead be funneled to other downtown projects because there is already enough private sponsor interest to support the square. “I’m not going to say we don’t need the money, but we have enough supporters now to do it on our own,” he says. “So we want that money to be used to enhance something else downtown.”

Long-term, Destination Rapid City’s plan calls for renovating and improving Rapid City’s entire 50-block downtown area. “We’re not done,” Senftner says. “Main Street Square has been successful to date. That doesn’t mean you can rest on what you did last week or last month. You still have to plan for next year.”

Other projects planned for downtown Rapid City include the Memorial Park Promenade, a 40-foot-wide walkway which will link Memorial Park and the Rushmore Plaza Civic Center to downtown. Private capital is funding the promenade’s construction. A large play area to be constructed in Memorial Park near the promenade is expected to cost $3 million and will be entirely privately funded, Senftner says.

Senftner says businesses are ready and willing to support Main Street Square and the continued evolution of downtown Rapid City because they have already seen firsthand the results of their efforts through increased business and property values. “They love it. They don’t ever want to see it go away, and it takes money,” he says.

Trending Topic

Outdoor gathering spaces are a popular item on the wish lists of many of the area’s downtown groups, including Fargo, which Senftner says “has a great thing going” and is primed for a Main Street Square-type project.

An outdoor skating rink/gathering space has been an occasional topic of discussion in Fargo for years, but recently resurfaced as city leaders develop plans for a new city hall and flood protection along the Red River. Mike Hahn, president and CEO of the Fargo-Moorhead Downtown Community Partnership, says the development of those projects presents an opportunity to also add outdoor gathering space downtown. “Now is the time to do it,” he says.

Hahn sees potential for multiple gathering areas to be scattered throughout smaller districts within the metro’s 100-block downtown area, perhaps including a large space similar to Main Street Square near the river. “We have multiple different neighborhoods downtown, but we all recognize that we are part of the same district,” he says.

Downtown Fargo has experienced a vibrant rebirth over the course of several years and is trending toward continued growth, helped along by the fairly recent expansion of North Dakota State University facilities into downtown and developers like Doug Burgum’s Kilbourne Group that are willing to invest in expansive redevelopment projects. “We’re very blessed to have developers that really get it and are committed for the long term,” Hahn says.

More than 4,000 people live in Fargo’s downtown area, in residences ranging from low-income housing to half-million-dollar condominiums. Hahn says the eclectic mix is heavy on millenials and empty nesters, both of which are attracted to downtown living because they desire an active neighborhood without the upkeep requirements of a suburban household.

Potential large projects on the horizon for Fargo’s downtown include a retail/parking structure and, perhaps, a convention center, although both projects are realistically several years from fruition. In the meantime, the partnership is in the early stages of implementing a Business Improvement District to fund continued maintenance of the downtown area.

Hahn credits the local artist community for fueling downtown Fargo’s continued revitalization and says he wants downtown to be the metro’s “cultural entertainment district,” filled with restaurants and various entertainment options and activities, something which has already begun to occur. “We’re seeing a lot of people who want to do events and activities downtown,” Hahn says, adding that the area’s culinary sector continues to grow as well.

Culinary activity has picked up pace in downtown Grand Forks, N.D., over the past few years as well, according to The Toasted Frog owner Jonathan Holth, who says the new business growth indicates positive momentum that he and other downtown business owners would like to continue. “When we opened [eight years ago] there were four or five restaurants; now there’s over a dozen,” he says. “So it’s becoming more vibrant. We just want to make sure that that work doesn’t go to waste and is built upon.”

Holth is leading the charge for the Grand Forks Downtown Development Association, which is currently in the process of hiring staff and building up membership while formulating a long-term strategic growth plan. Much of downtown Grand Forks has been fairly recently updated as a result of the historic 1997 Red River flood, which gives it a great head start in terms of public art and gathering spaces. Town Square, for example, hosts a lively and popular farmer’s market in the summer months, drawing hundreds of visitors downtown every weekend. “We’ve got an already beautiful downtown that we’d just like to expand on,” Holth says. “We’ve got some great events. We think there could be more.”

Holth is committed member of downtowns in every community he does business in. He’s opened a Toasted Frog in downtown Bismarck three years ago and will soon open another location in downtown Fargo. He is attracted to downtowns both for the unique variety of locally owned businesses as well as the sense of community history that can be found there.

“Walking through the downtown area of any city, you get a sense of the history and how a community views itself,” he says. “If you walk through a vibrant, well-maintained downtown, I think that speaks to how the rest of the city is.”

Bonny Kemper, executive director of the Minot Business & Professional Association, agrees and says that sentiment is shared throughout the U.S. “Cities are realizing that if the heart of their city is not thriving, the city as a whole does not thrive and grow and prosper.”

Like Grand Forks, Minot, N.D.’s downtown was devastated by historic river flooding, but it is not yet fully recovered from its Souris River flood, which occurred in 2011. Massive renovations will begin downtown this year to overhaul everything from streets to garbage receptacles. The work will begin on the east end of downtown and move westward, so Main Street, where most of downtown’s retailers are located, won’t be affected until next year. The city’s Broadway bridge will also be renovated next year, which will further limit accessibility to downtown businesses.

Kemper says downtown Minot business owners are bracing themselves for a few lean years during construction but she encourages them to focus on the positive end-result. “You just have to hang on to the thought that it is going to get better,” she says. “When it’s all done it’s going to be beautiful.” Meanwhile, other downtown projects are contributing to an overall positive feel of the district. Minot Artspace Lofts, a 34-unit affordable live/work space for artists, recently opened and bills itself as “an anchor for continued investment in the creative economy.” The building includes more than 3,000 square feet of retail/commercial space as well as about 1,500 square feet of exhibition/gallery/community space in addition to the apartment units. New retail shops and restaurants have also opened recently, housing is being added and a large multi-level parking structure project being developed by Cypress Developments could be complete by the end of this year, providing three levels of much-needed parking, retail space on the ground level, and multiple levels of apartments, according to Kemper.

This year, Kemper says the association is doing everything it can to help businesses succeed while preparing for next year’s renovations. The group formed a marketing cam- paign to encourage visitors to explore downtown and runs shuttles from hotels and the city’s auditorium to downtown drop points to alleviate parking headaches for shoppers. The group is also planning events and activities to draw people into the district. With an eye toward post-renovation, Kemper says the group would like to continue adding retail stores, a grocery store, drug store and entertainment options including a movie theater to the downtown area. An outdoor gathering space is also on the list. All of these things require capital and commitment, which Kemper says the association hopes to gain by hosting events and helping the downtown’s small businesses continue to succeed. “We look forward to being bigger and better than ever,” she says. PB

Kris Bevill Editor, Prairie Business 701-306-8561, kbevill@prairiebizmag.com