The Springfield community will be refining its priorities in the next few months in the Forward SGF Comprehensive Plan. It will include many worthwhile initiatives, including closing the gaps in the Ozarks Greenways system and enhancing parks, investing in placemaking and addressing public safety. However, neighborhood revitalization should also be on the short list of major priorities over the next 20 years.
Properties within the city limits have lost ground over the past two decades to the suburban bedroom communities that offered greenfield subdivisions and new schools. The typical three-bedroom, two-bath home outside the city limits of Springfield was $100,000 to $150,000 in the early 2000s. Now, those same starter homes are $200,000 and more, especially in the current hot real estate market.
The value proposition has changed in many of Springfield’s historic neighborhoods. Properties can often be acquired in the $40,000 to $80,000 range and another $60,000 in renovations makes them much more attractive to young families. At the same time, there are a myriad of community investments that will be improving the Queen City’s quality of life, including the Grant Avenue Parkway, Renew Jordan Creek, $170 million in Springfield R-12 school system upgrades, and $120 million in residential fiber optics from City Utilities and its partners.
The time is right for Springfield to identify neighborhood revitalization as a top priority.
A recent trip of community leaders and residential advocates to Des Moines, Iowa, highlighted a model for our community to emulate. The city of Des Moines and Polk County joined forces to establish Invest DSM as a private non-profit to provide holistic and innovative solutions that strengthen neighborhoods through strategic allocations in real estate and partnerships. The passage of a sales tax initiative secured $50 million over 10 years with the focus on increasing property values.
In just two years, the entrepreneurial and passionate Invest DSM staff have created three programs that are beginning to demonstrate impressive results.
The Block Challenge Grant allows teams of residents to band together to make tangible improvements to the exterior of their properties. Groups of five to nine property owners are eligible for up to $1,000 of matching fund reimbursements for a wide variety of ways they can enhance their curb appeal. Groups of 10 or more receive $2,500 in reimbursements. Two main requirements of the grant are that the properties must be within line-of-sight from each other to create a daisy chain of improvements and they must have a party at the end of the project to come together to celebrate their shared successes. Over the past year, 16 teams with 240 participants have invested over $1.1 million. For every dollar Invest DSM has funded, property owners have invested $1.51.
The Homeowner Renovation Grant offers residents in designated neighborhoods the opportunity to receive 30-50% in reimbursements for high quality upgrades to their properties to significantly increase the home values and neighborhood desirability. This includes a wide variety of exterior enhancements, kitchen upgrades, bedroom additions and other efforts to make the properties more marketable for today’s consumers. The typical project is in the $30,000 to $50,000 range, with Invest DSM funding approximately $12,000 to $20,000 of that amount. A total of 79 projects have been approved for 2021 with an annual budget for Invest DSM of more than $1.3 million. The Homeowner Renovation Grants are focused on strengthening the “missing middle” neighborhoods to bolster them from slipping into at-risk and deteriorated conditions.
Invest DSM also spotlighted its assistance of commercial properties that are pivotal as neighborhood hubs – coffee shops, pizza places, bakeries, breweries, etc. Springfield has similar examples with Cherry and Pickwick, Downtown’s Brewery District, C-Street and Galloway Village. Expanding these economic opportunities into as many neighborhoods as possible should be an important component of Forward SGF.
There is much work left to do. Springfield can learn from other communities such as Des Moines to revitalize our neighborhoods.
Setting a shared goal on the horizon and working together to thoughtfully move in a common direction is attainable through the foundations already established in the Neighborhood Advisory Council. I look forward to joining Springfield’s dedicated residential advocates and you to make those aspirations a reality.