Saturday, December 15, 2012

One Master Developer Leaves, Another Rides into Town


If this were a Western, it would show one man riding out of town toward the setting sun.  The next morning a gaggle of fancy dressed men would ride into downtown San Angelo, ablaze in morning sunlight.


The man riding out is Economic Development Director Shawn Lewis.   Lewis is headed to Longmont, Colorado where he'll work as Assistant City Manager for his old boss, Harold Dominguez.  The Longmont Times-Call had this to say about Lewis:

According to his resume, Lewis coordinated 16 downtown building rehabilitations in San Angelo, completed the creation of the city's first tax increment reinvestment zone for downtown and aging corridors, doubled the number of dangerous buildings that were demolished or repaired, and cut the time for the city to review development plans. He also wrote the reorganization plan that created San Angelo's new development services department; as director of that department, among other things, he oversaw $22 million of capital projects and oversaw the privatization of the city's social services division to the Concho Valley Community Action Agency.

On reaching his current position, he organized the creation of the San Angelo Business Resource Center, which put all the city's economic development partners into a "one-stop shop," housed in a former Coca-Cola warehouse. He also led a reorganization to cut costs in economic development and recruited a medical device manufacturing company to the city.

The San Angelo Standard-Times named him in November as one of the city's top 20 leaders under 40. 

Riding into San Angelo to develop downtown is Catalyst Urban Development.  The Master Developer proposes a four phase engagement, with fees associated with each chunk of work.  The outline of their proposal showed:

Phase 1: Implementation Action Plan - $68,000 (plus expenses) and up to $22,000 for outside groups. 

Phase 2: Horizontal Development Positioning - $10,000 per month for the life of this phase, estimated at six months.  Fee of 3% of purchase price.

Phase 3: Vertical Development Positioning - Public-private partnership stake would identify compensation.  Firm will submit a fee proposal for direct sale to outside investor

Phase 4: Construction Management / Project Oversight - 1.5% of improvements

Other On-Going Tasks - Fees developed as services are needed outside the scope above

How long will it take Catalyst to achieve 16 downtown rehabs using public private money?  Continuing the Western theme, Was San Angelo not big enough for Lewis and Catalyst to work together?

Update 12-20-12:  Council approved phase 1 of Catalyst's proposal.  Is it the beginning of a long term franchise, with hundreds of thousands in public money?

Update 3-9-13:  Shawn Lewis' Longmont will contribute $27.5 million of the estimated $80 million Twin Peaks Mall redevelopment project.  The city's bonds will be repaid by the additional sales and property tax the mall generates.

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