‘Amazing’ project in downtown Belleville contingent on parking garage, official says
A developer wants to redevelop a block of downtown Belleville into commercial space and about 25 condominiums, but he’s only interested if the city agrees to build a parking garage.
That was the message delivered recently to the City Council’s Economic Development and Annexation Committee by Cliff Cross, director of economic development, planning and zoning.
“They feel that to make their model work, there needs to be a parking garage, and it would be available to all businesses downtown,” he said.
The project involves an unspecified number of buildings in the 100 block of East Main Street, where the former Ben’s retail store was located. The parking garage would be behind it.
Ben’s closed earlier this year, when owner John Conkright and his daughter, Beth Wamble, retired. The store had been operating since 1976.
Cross didn’t name the developer due to ongoing negotiations.
“It’s a very reputable developer with a very good background,” he said. “They’ve talked about doing an amazing project, and this isn’t their first rodeo.”
One possibility would be a five-level garage with the lower three levels designated for public parking and the upper two levels reserved for condo residents, including parking on the fourth level and green space for walking and other recreation on the fifth level.
Cross told committee members that parking garages now cost about $35,000 per space to build — close to $5 million for 140 spaces — and that grant funding might be available to help pay for it.
“If there’s a viable project on the books, that gives us a better opportunity to get a grant for building a garage,” said Eric Schauster, assistant director of economic development.
“I’ve been looking for 10 years for grants, and most of the ones I’ve been able to find are similar to the industrial park. ... If you find somebody who’s going to sign on and say, ‘I will do my project if you build this garage,’ that’s the hook.”
Schauster said the upper floors of several downtown buildings, particularly those in the 100 block of East Main Street, haven’t been redeveloped due to lack of a parking garage.
Belleville resident Michael Hagberg, who attended the committee meeting on May 3, said the city studied the idea of building a parking garage about 10 years ago and determined that it was unnecessary and too expensive.
Cross suggested that the city “reevaluate” the need in light of the project being proposed by a developer who would be making big investment in downtown Belleville.
“They want to do it sooner rather than later,” he said.
Cross also suggested that people stop thinking about “downtown” as just Main Street and consider expanding south to Washington Street and north to A Street with one or more parking garages.
Ward 6 Alderman Chris Rothweiler didn’t speak for or against a Belleville parking garage, but he urged caution, recalling his recent trip to Lafayette, Louisiana, which has a “beautiful” parking garage downtown.
Rothweiler said the vast majority of people parked several blocks away along side streets to avoid paying the garage fee.
“I think one of the issues we’d have to look at is, ‘Would people really pay to park in a garage?’” he said. “Sure we could put gates up and charge them, but would they actually pay to do that, considering that people don’t like to pay to park?”
Ward 7 Alderman Dennis Weygandt asked to look at the proposed redevelopment plan before moving forward on the idea of a parking garage.
Ward 5 Alderwoman Shelly Schaefer said downtown Belleville has many “great” buildings that aren’t being fully utilized because they need costly renovation work.
“If (this developer is) willing to put the money and time into it, that’s a major deal,” she said. “If we need to put up a garage, we need to really consider that because that could make or break that block.
“And to bring residents in? We keep talking about how we need more residents. If they’re going to put lofts or condos up there, it’s going to be bringing people in.”
This story was originally published May 17, 2023 at 6:00 AM.
