Cape seeks proposals to develop blighted property on Good Hope Street

Cape Girardeau city officials are taking a new approach to cleaning blighted, downtown property.

The city wants to entice developers to revitalize old, vacant buildings by offering them at no cost.

City officials are seeking proposals to develop blighted property on Good Hope Street rather than condemn the property and raze the vacant buildings.

"We are open to all proposals," said Alex McElroy, the city's development services director.

The city has set a deadline of Aug. 25 to receive detailed proposals.

Two dilapidated, brick buildings at 631 and 635 Good Hope are on the property, at the corner of Good Hope and Sprigg streets.

A third brick building at 633 Good Hope once stood between the two buildings. But that structure partially collapsed July 3, 2014.

The city ended up removing that structure and levying a $51,684 tax lien on the property in an effort to recover the cost, McElroy said.

Former Cape Girardeau resident Jeremy Ford, who now lives in California, owns the property and "does not have plans to make further investments in the property," according to the city's written request for proposals (RFP).

McElroy said Ford has agreed to donate the property to a developer selected by the city. The tax lien would be transferred to the developer.

Under the agreement outlined in the RFP, the city would waive the tax lien upon substantial completion of the developer's project.

"It is kind of a unique situation," said McElroy, adding the proposed solution is "new to me."

Typically, Cape Girardeau and other cities condemn blighted buildings and often don't recover the costs of tearing them down, he said.

"I think it is a creative approach," he added.

McElroy said he doesn't know what type of development proposals the city will receive.

But the RFP states the development should conform to central business district zoning, which allows for businesses on the first floor and residential units on the second floor of a building or buildings.

The goal is to "enhance the appearance and economic vitality of the downtown area," according to the RFP.

The Good Hope site, which includes the land and buildings, is valued at $52,100, city staff disclosed in the RFP.

It is within a tax-increment-financing district and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, city staff said in the document.

The vacant buildings are part of the National Register-designated Haarig Historic District. The district was named to the register in 2001.

Largely settled by German immigrants, the area contained shops, offices, taverns and boardinghouses by the turn of the 20th century.

According to National Register documentation, the buildings owned by Ford were erected about 1880.

The building at 635 Good Hope originally housed the Haas Brothers Saloon, the online National Register report said.

mbliss@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3641

Pertinent address:

631, 633 and 635 Good Hope St.