Cape TIF Commission OKs building renovation plan on Broadway

A plan to renovate a vacant 97-year-old building in downtown Cape Girardeau will be considered by the City Council next month after receiving unanimous approval Wednesday from the city’s TIF Commission.

If approved by the council, the $1.3 million renovation project at 811 Broadway will qualify for tax increment financing (TIF) to help make the project financially feasible.

Once the home of Cape Girardeau’s American Legion post and Pitter’s Cafe and Lounge, the two-story, 12,000-square foot structure was recently purchased by Suzanne Hightower of Jackson with the intent of renovating it.

The Southeast Missouri Regional Planning and Economic Development Commission issued a report in July declaring the property as “blighted,” meaning it has a “predominance of defective or inadequate street layout, unsanitary or unsafe conditions, deterioration or site improvements, improper subdivision or obsolete platting, or the existence of conditions which endanger life or property by fire and other causes, or any combination of such factors.”

In its current condition, the property generates diminished property tax revenue and no sales tax receipts. Renovating the structure, according to a cost/benefit analysis of the project, will increase its value and its assessed valuation on Cape Girardeau County’s property tax roles. Meanwhile, the project calls for addition of commercial businesses, which will generate sales tax.

Hightower is founder and president of Restoreme LLC and has plans to construct six upscale apartments on the building’s upper level. The lower level will be renovated to include two commercial lease spaces, one of which will be a coffee shop owned by Speakeasy Coffee Co.

This is the second TIF project approved by the commission since June when the panel voted in favor of a $5 million renovation of several adjoining properties in the 400 block of Broadway and 200 block of North Middle Street. The City Council subsequently approved the project, which will ultimately include apartments, restaurants and a behavioral and therapeutic services company.

Molly Mehner, Cape Girardeau’s deputy city manager, said the City Council will hear the first reading of an ordinance approving redevelopment plans for 811 Broadway on Sept. 8, with the second and third readings scheduled for the council’s Sept. 21 meeting.

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