Cabin Business

Why is a vital downtown crucial to the city’s growth?

A vital attractive downtown is crucial to the sense of community and sense of place that all great cities have to have. HP was in town only twice before they announced they were coming to Conway. The first time they were only here 45 minutes. They drove out to see Meadows Technology Park, they drove through UCA and compared it to Corvalis, Ore., and drove through downtown and marveled at how vibrant and beautiful it was and then they were gone. The wobbly, drab looking downtown of a few years ago would have told the tale of a city that wouldn’t take care of itself or invest in itself. The message would be, “why should they invest in us if we won’t?”

What types of projects do you consider important not only downtown but across the city?

First, the city must maintain our police and fire efforts at full tilt. Second, we have to pursue transportation projects that ease travel around and through our city. We must do our primary job very good. Then we need to continue our drive to provide the best quality of life as possible and deliver it to the highest standards if we are going to fulfill our opportunity. That means building great parks and trails and preserving green space, it means encouraging the continued development of Conway as a shopping, dining and entertainment center. I think the next five years, depending on the national economy, will offer Conway a unique opportunity to become a major shopping hub for Central Arkansas. We should continue efforts to provide transit, build more sidewalks and become a bike friendly community. I believe we should continue to be trying to become one of the great small art cities in the nation. All these enhance quality of life. HP and companies like them will locate where the people they need to employee either already are or where they are willing to live. We want to continue to become that place now more than ever. Get quality of life right and all else falls into place!

How does the city help private projects come to fruition?

The city can not give away city assets. But we can make upgrades and improvements to public infrastructure, which can be an aid to private concerns. On very rare deals, given the availability of funds, the city will be willing to invest in projects and lease them to private concerns such that the city retains its ownership and is not out its investment. For example, while the city’s Economic Development Fund is fully tapped out at this time, we leveraged it fully in both of these fashions to help land HP. The EDF was funded by a 1 percent franchise fee on the electric revenues from Conway Corporation. It raises about $550,000 each year. First, the city took about 60 percent of it to use as debt service on the bonds that paid for the construction of all the public infrastructure in the Meadows Technology Park — the roads, sidewalks, street lamps, water main and sewer mains as well as the sewer pump station. The city also used arterial street monies from the quarter-cent general sales tax for constructing three streets connecting to the Meadows Technology Park to city standards. All of these improvements are still publicly owned. If these were not ready HP would not being built out there today. Secondly, the city used the other roughly 40 percent of the EDF to fund all the site improvements including the parking lot and building pad for HP, which we leased to CDC, which is leasing it to H-P. This cost $2.1 million and though it will be used privately is still publicly owned. The public’s investment is protected if the building ever sells. While only $2.1 million is for the exclusive benefit of HP (During the term of the lease), the $6 million in other monies the city committed to this project is public infrastructure and will be used not only by HP but any other businesses in the park as well as private citizens who use those streets.

What infrastructure investments will the city make for private projects?

The city can not make many such investments at this time due to the EDF being tapped out, but provided another source of revenue, the above mentioned investments are the type we could make as well as the purchase of additional land. I will point out that deals such as the site improvements deal with HP will be the rare exception and not the rule.

What can developers do to enhance their ability to earn city approval for various retail outlets and restaurants and other commercial developments?
Develop site plans and building plans that meet or exceed our city’s standards and be very cognizant of the surrounding property owners and the effect of their project on them. Mitigate those effects as effectively as possible and don’t get into a hurry. While our city runs on sales taxes, any developer needs to vet their project against their neighbors and the Planning Department’s site and building standards. The more thorough they are up front the easier on the back end.

Looking toward the future, what is the next big thing, what is the next big project on the horizon, either a type of private investment or a public project?

Publicly, we will be completing three great projects this year: a very attractive new police station and wonderful new girl’s softball complex as well as a mainline connection from mid-town to our first new interstate exit in almost 40 years and 40,000 people — Salem Road. The Harkrider project is now under construction. Next up for the city are a new fairgrounds project, a new boy’s baseball complex and new bike trail. All are scheduled to start this year. Also, full engineering and maybe even expedited construction on the new airport is possible. Further, the Salem Road railroad overpass will move this year with stimulus monies.

Privately, we look forward to the start of the Southwestern Energy building and the completion of the Hewlett-Packard building and some of the first phase of structures in Hendrix Village and the UCA business building.

While private projects stay much quieter than public projects, it is my belief that the recent and continued strength of Conway’s retail sector is proving that there is a dramatic reshaping of the retail market area north of the river taking place in the minds of shoppers. People all across the area just like shopping and dining in Conway. I think that will be even more proven in the next few years and the interstate corridor will see greater commercial investment even to the next level — again depending on the national economy. Considering that 67 percent of Conway’s general fund budget is sales tax revenue, bring it on!
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Conway Mayor Tab Townsell