Bloomington’s city council is mulling over two possibilities to bring housing to an under-utilized property off Main Street.
What was once known as the Mennonite Hospital and the Electrolux headquarters is now a run-down brick building and adjacent grass lot. The 801 and 807 N. Main St. properties are surrounded by signs declaring it a City of Bloomington construction site.
Property tax records show neither site generates any property tax revenue and both are currently owned by the city.
The Franklin Park Foundation [FPF] presented its Franklin Square neighborhood project designs and plan Monday at the council's non-voting Committee of the Whole meeting.
It suggests constructing two six-story buildings with 260 apartments — 40 studios, 110 one-bedroom apartments, 90 two-bedroom apartments, 20 three-bedroom apartments — and another 40 “workforce” studio apartments, at rates affordable for those making around the area median income.
FPF estimated the project would cost $62.5 million. Foundation president Tim Maurer is confident it could be privately funded, saying two lenders already are interested in financing the current concept. He also said a Housing and Urban Development loan application is currently being processed.
Under the proposal, the FPF would own the land. Once constructed, Franklin Park Rentals would manage the property. FPR has managed properties associated with FPF since 1986. Any profit would be folded back into the non-profit.
The Franklin Park Foundation is a non-profit founded in 2017 that is dedicated to revitalizing the Franklin Park area, including restoration of the park that is the foundation’s namesake.
FPF would not design or construct the building. Tait Johnson of General Design, Inc. would design the project. Farnsworth Group and Midwest Engineering and testing would provide site work and engineering consulting. The current proposal identifies Swinerton Builders as the construction contractors.
At the meeting, city council member Cody Hendricks questioned FPF about its lack of building experience, clarifying that this would be the foundation’s first project.
“It would be the only,” Maurer said.
“The foundation doesn’t have any intent in doing development generally,” he continued. “Because [this project] is contiguous to the park, there’s a natural means of paying for the restoration and preservation.”
Maurer reiterated the FPF would not design and build the structure, but would contract out to architects and builders.
Representatives from labor unions IBEW Local 197 and LiUNA 362 expressed support for the foundation’s proposal during the council’s public comment, saying the group committed to using local union labor.
“They guarantee local workers on this contract,” said LiUNA Local 362 Business Manager Ronnie Paul. “That pays into our members pension, health care and the money stays local.”
Both representatives said they hope whichever developer the city moves forward with commits to hiring union workers.
Second proposal
Champaign-based Royse and Brinkmeyer did not share specific plans, but pointed to its other properties and presented a general outline for a project at the Main Street property. The property management company operates more than 1,000 apartments in Champaign.
Royse and Brinkmeyer CEO Colin Carlier proposed building around 140 to 160 units in some combination of studio, loft, one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments.
In previous projects, like The Pilot, Royse and Brinkmeyer combined different housing types in one development. Carlier said the proposal for the Main Street property also would consider a mix of apartments, townhomes, mid-rise and walk-up apartments.
Royse and Brinkmeyer partnered with Catalyst Construction and Hewn Studio in developing the $38.5 million proposal.
Hendricks asked Carlier if Royse and Brinkmeyer would work with local, unionized labor. Carlier said the projected cost includes an open bid for contractors.
“Any qualified contractor whether union, non-union, prevailing wage that can help us deliver this project, we’d be happy to talk to,” Carlier said.
While the group did not present specific designs to counsel, they shared some concept art of what they called “Titan Plaza” to tie its branding with Illinois Wesleyan University a couple blocks away.
The presentation to council did not include specific rent rates. Other properties managed by Royse and Brinkmeyer list rents starting at $1,060 a month for a studio apartment, and up to $2,385 a month for a two-bedroom, two-bathroom apartment.
During the presentation to council, Carlier showed a Housing and Urban Development analysis comparing the proposed rent rates to the area median income [AMI].
The analysis lists the AMI as $118,000, but does not specify if that is for one or two earners per household. Affordable rent is considered to be 30% of someone’s earnings. For someone earning exactly the AMI, an “affordable rent” would be $2,970 per month.
For someone earning 80% of the AMI, or $95,040, an affordable rent would be $2,376 per month, and for someone earning 60% of the AMI, or $71, 280, an affordable rent would be $1,782 per month.
Carlier said significant portions of the apartment units in this proposal would fall into the affordability range for people earning 60% to 120% of the AMI.
For the FPF proposal, 40 studio apartments would fall into the 80% to 120% AMI range.
Neither of the proposals are in their final form, meaning there would be possible amendments to the design depending on city and community feedback.
The council did not vote on either project or choose a developer to move forward with. There’s no clear timeline for when it might.
Other business
Also Monday, City Manager Jeff Jurgens said the city may slightly extend its moratorium on hyperscale data center projects.
The city is nearing the end of its policy making period for data center regulations. Draft regulations were released to the public at the beginning of October. The city’s planning commission held the first of two public hearings on Oct. 16.
Jurgens said the commission requested to hear from subject-matter experts at its next meeting at 4 p.m. Nov. 16. Jurgens said that indicates the city will need to extend the moratorium slightly.
“We also know that the council doesn't want to extend that forever. So, we will likely come at that last meeting in November with a short extension of the moratorium. Hopefully, it will not take us long though,” Jurgens said.
The council was planning on voting on the regulations at its next meeting after the Nov. 16 planning commission hearing.
