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<br />Conclusion
<br />TIF is a valuable redevelopment tool when used properly. TIF
<br />districts can help to attract development to blighted areas,
<br />encourage the cleanup of environmentally contaminated areas,
<br />and provide incentive for infiJl development rather than the
<br />development of greenspace. StiII, TIF districts have to be
<br />accompanied by sound planning practices, including needs
<br />assessment, land-use planning, and pl~s for the effective
<br />management of the districts. If sufficiently planned, TIF will
<br />provide economic benefits to a municipality and environmental
<br />benefirs to a region as a whole.
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<br />Sinking Shopping
<br />Center to Become
<br />a Wetlanel
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<br />Occasionally, APA's Planning Advisory Service is asked to
<br />provide examples of shopping center revitalization techniques.
<br />Options usually include varying the tenant mix, renovating the
<br />facade, improving the landscaping and parking, and/or
<br />redesigning the signage. For the Phalen Shopping Center in St.
<br />Paul, Minnesota, the selected alternative has been more
<br />dramatic-demolish the majority of the site and convert it to a
<br />lake and wetlands. By spring 1999, St. Paul hopes to transform
<br />the site back into Ames Lake, surrounded by wetlands and
<br />community open sp~ce.
<br />Opened in 1960, the 200,OOO-square-foot shopping center
<br />was expected to provide an economic boom to the Phalen
<br />Village neighborhood. Builders speculated that a highway
<br />proposed for the neighborhood would link it to the regional
<br />retail market. But residents opposed the highway, which
<br />ultimately stopped short of the neighborhood. Another highway
<br />intended to traverse the area was built a mile and a half away,
<br />crearing a more suitable site for a regional retail center
<br />elsewhere. While the Phalen Shopping Center operated well for
<br />a time, it never quite captured the community's retail market
<br />and suffered from high vacancy rates.
<br />And then there was the problem with the site. The center
<br />was built on what was then the outskirts of St. Paul on the only
<br />available vacant land-Ames Lake. To create a buildable site,
<br />the developers drained and filled the lake. in some places to a
<br />depth of 80 feet. The shopping center site was never truly stable
<br />and began sinking right from the start. Cattails began to grow
<br />through broken-up parts of the extended parking lot that was
<br />paved for an expansion that never occurred.
<br />The structural situation; coupled with the vacancies and a
<br />lack of major maintenance work over the years, made it
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<br />
<br />un;nl Nnus is a monrhly newsle"er published by ,he American Planning Associa,ion.
<br />Subscrip,ions are available for 550 (U.S.) and 565 (foreign). Frank S. So. Eucu,ive Direc,or.
<br />WiUiam R. Klein. Direc,or of Research.
<br />
<br />un;nl NtrIII is pmduc:ed a, APA. Jim Schwab and Mike Davidson. Edi,on: Chris Burke. Fay
<br />Dolnick. Kimberly Ces,er. Sanjay Jeer. Megan Lewis. Marya Morris. Ilecki ReaJaIF. Manin
<br />Roupe. Joson Wi"enberg. Repo"en: Cyn,hia Cheski. Assi..an, Edi,or. Lisa Banon. Design and
<br />Production.
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<br />Copyrighl II) 1998 by American Planning Associa,ion. 122 S. Michigan Ave,. Sui,e \(;00.
<br />Chicago. IL 60603. ne Amelian Planning Associalion has headquarten ollices al 1 n6
<br />M....chusc:m Ave.. N.W.. Washinlllon. DC 20036.
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<br />All righu reserved. No pan of rhis publica,ion may be rcpmduced or ulilized in any form or by
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<br />..Drage and relrieva1 sysrcm. wilhoul permission in wling from rhe American Planning
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<br />Primed on recycled paper. including 50-70% recycled 6bcr
<br />and 10% posrconsumer waste.
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<br />
<br />apparent that the community needed ro act. Finding a solution
<br />for the shopping center became one of the catalyses for
<br />developing a neighborhood plan.
<br />In 1991, a neighborhood task force was established to
<br />identify strategies to revitalize the neighborhood, including the
<br />center, and develop them into a plan. The Phalen Village Small
<br />Area Plan Task Force includes representatives of residents,
<br />property owners, businesses, and twO members of the St. Paul
<br />Planning Commission. When it acknowledged that the
<br />shopping center needed some help, the task force originally
<br />decided to add some aesthetic amenities to the site to create
<br />some neighborhood open space. says Alan T orsrenson of the St.
<br />Paul Department of Planning and Economic Development. It
<br />was not initially conceived as a wetlands restoration site. The
<br />idea for converting the site back to wetlands came from Sherri
<br />Buss, who was studying landscape architecture at the University
<br />of Minnesota when the city approached her adviser. offering
<br />the shopping center as a student project. As she studied rhe
<br />site, examining factors such as its history as a lake, the
<br />concave topography, and hydric soils, "all the information
<br />pointed to it being a wetland," says Buss. She developed a
<br />wetlands restoration plan. which also became her thesis
<br />project. When Buss presented her proposal to the
<br />neighborhood task force in 1992, "I thought the
<br />neighborhood group would laugh at us." she says; But many
<br />of the residents remembered fishing in Ames Lake and
<br />became excited. The task force included the idea in the
<br />neighborhood plan.
<br />Not all of the site will be returned to wetlands. Jerry's
<br />NewMarket, a successful grocery store tenant. has purchased
<br />50,000 square feet of the shopping center, which includes his
<br />store and six other storefronts. Renovation of these stores is
<br />expected to occur next year. In addicion, Prosperity Avenue, the
<br />hopeful-sounding road that originally led to Phalen Center, will
<br />be rerouted around the wetland, creating a new commercial
<br />corridor to the north.
<br />The $2 million restoration is being underwritten by
<br />several contributors, including the city, the Metropolitan
<br />Council (through its Livable Communities fund), the
<br />Legislacive Commission on Minnesota Resources (using
<br />lottery funds dedicated to environment). and the watershed
<br />district.
<br />Site excavation is scheduled for this summer. Initial wetlands
<br />vegetation plantings will occur this fall, with the final plantings
<br />completed next spring. The hope is that it will be a fully
<br />functional wetland that serves primarily as an environmental
<br />amenity and wildlife habitat. When completed. Ames Lake will
<br />contain from seven to nine acres of lake and wetlands. It will
<br />link to nearly five acres of wetlands restored in 1997 at Lake
<br />Phalen, located approximately one-quarter mile from Ames
<br />Lake, and become part of the Phalen Chain of Lakes bird
<br />flyway. According to the small area plan, it will also serve as a
<br />environmental education resource for school and youth
<br />programs.
<br />The Phalen Center project is part of an overall community
<br />revitalization effort. says Torstenson. "The community has
<br />always had stable areas, but has had pockets that were troubled,"
<br />he says. The city hopes that the desire to live near green space
<br />will help attract higher-quality housing and mixed commercial
<br />uses, stabilizing the Phalen Village economy. Bws sees the lake
<br />and wetland as "natural resources accing as an aid to economic
<br />d,evelopment." Already there are new townhomes being
<br />developed in the area. Megan Lewis. AlCP
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