Despite extending an offer for free land, the City of Hays has not yet received any qualifying proposals for potential development on 1.26 acres of property on West 10th between Elm and Ash.
A request for proposals was posted in September, with a deadline of Dec. 15. The city did receive one proposal from a company that outlined financial backing, but lacked details in terms of a specific project, assistant city manager Jacob Wood said late last week.
“We did not actually receive any qualifying RFPs. We were looking for a company that was qualified to do it, had the financial backing and also had a plan,” he said.
The city had offered to give the tract of property at no cost for the right development. The odd shape of property — which is rather long and narrow — could have been a factor in the lack of interest, Mayor James Meier said.
“One, there was free land out there and we didn’t even get any proposals. So it makes me rethink every time that I hear from somebody, ‘We’re not developing because of land prices,’ ” Meier said. “So first of all, there was free land and nobody took us up on it. And two, it is oddly shaped. So were we not taken up on it because it’s not usable?”
The land’s location also could pose a challenge, as any potential business would not be adjacent to other commercial development. Vice-Mayor Henry Schwaller noted Eighth Street typically is considered the corridor that would connect downtown Hays and Fort Hays State University.
“The challenge in Hays is that Hays grows very slowly. We are currently not in a classified recession, but we’ve had some down periods because commodity prices are low,” he said. “It is an unusual location. The size of the lot doesn’t matter. We also in Hays have a particular thing we like building — duplexes. It’s a cookie-cutter approach to development, which would not work there."
Wood said he would reach out to the firm who submitted a document to see if they had plans for a specific development.
The city’s specifications for the project were “wide open,” with possible developments including commercial business, multi-family dwellings or mixed-use structures combining the two. City commissioners at Thursday’s work session said the ideal project would be something that would help generate new sales tax revenues or provide a community service.
“As much as places are being built with private money, I don’t think we should be pushing people to build apartments in town,” Commissioner Shaun Musil said. “To me that doesn’t really help the public … only one person’s going to benefit from that.”
Musil noted the city hasn’t seen much interest from developers for potential mixed-use retail/residential developments, and said he would like to discuss the potential of someday developing an indoor fieldhouse that could draw additional traffic to Hays for tournaments. Musil said many Hays families currently travel to a facility in Salina for winter sports events.
Musil agreed the land on 10th Street might not be ideally situated for that kind of development, but said the possibility should be part of a longer discussion about ways to draw more visitors to Hays.
“I want to tell the public, maybe think outside the box,” he said.
Commissioner Sandy Jacobs said Downtown Hays Development Corp. also has been having strategic meetings to discuss possible future downtown development, noting a large commercial property on West 10th also is vacant. The building formerly was The Home Party Club.
“I think there’s potential in that,” Jacobs said. “We want more entertainment. We want more restaurants. We want more things that bring people down as a gathering space; that’s what downtown was created for. The more of that you have, the mores sales tax we’re going to generate. And that’s what we’re looking for.”
As far as the city-owned property in question, commissioners indicated it would be worth the wait to find an ideal development for the space. Schwaller noted a feasible possibility could be a business such as a delivery dining service.
“We don’t have to give it away today,” he said of the land. “We’ve had the land for a long time.”