Cape TIF Commission gives preliminary approval for downtown redevelopment plan

Plans for a $5 million redevelopment project in the vicinity of Broadway and North Middle Street in downtown Cape Girardeau received preliminary approval from the city’s Tax Increment Financing (TIF) Commission.

Commission members held a “virtual” meeting Wednesday afternoon to review the project, which was first presented to them in early May for their consideration.

If ultimately approved by the commission and the Cape Girardeau City Council, project developers would qualify for reimbursement of more than $2.9 million of the project’s costs.

A public hearing on the project has been scheduled for 4 p.m. June 24, tentatively at the Osage Centre, assuming public gatherings with ample social distancing are feasible by then. Otherwise the hearing will likely take place online. Following the hearing, the commission will decide whether to recommend it to the city council for its consideration.

Designated as The Rialto Retail and Residential development, the proposed project involves renovation of several vacant buildings on the north side of the 400 block of Broadway to accommodate two restaurants, two retail tenants and six upscale apartments.

The project draws its name from the Rialto Theater, which operated at 420 Broadway from 1940 until the early 1980s.

In addition to renovation and repurposing of those buildings, collectively referred to in the redevelopment plan as 430 Broadway, the plan includes:

• Removal of a structure at 222 N. Middle St.
• Addition of outdoor patio seating at 440 Broadway, in front of The Bank of Missouri branch there, which will be used for outdoor seating by one of the restaurants at 430 Broadway.
• Renovation of a building at 260 N. Middle St. to accommodate a behavioral and therapeutic services company.
• Addition of about 80 off-street parking spaces withing the boundaries of the 1.73-acre redevelopment area.

A study conducted by the Southeast Missouri Regional Planning and Economic Development Commission has determined the parcels in the project area are “blighted,” which qualifies the project for TIF development funding.

All of the properties in the proposed redevelopment area are owned by Rust Communications Inc., parent company of the Southeast Missourian.

According to Rex Rust, managing member of The Rialto development project and co-president of Rust Communications, work could begin later this summer and completed in early 2021.

“Our goal, if this is approved, is to be going full steam ahead the next day,” he told the commissioners.

“It’s an awesome opportunity,” commented commission member and Cape Girardeau Area Chamber of Commerce president and CEO John Mehner. The project, he said, “fits well with what is planned in the downtown area.”

Other commission members agreed.

“This is the perfect project for our downtown,” said commission member Marla Mills, who served 13 years as executive director of Old Town Cape. TIF financing, she said, will make it possible. “If they (the project developers) could do this without TIF, they would have moved forward before now.”

Do you crave business news? Check out B Magazine, and the B Magazine email newsletter. Check it out at www.semissourian.com/newsletters to find out more.