| Author
|
Post |
 
|
|
untanglingwebs
El Supremo
|
20,000-square-foot manufacturing facility planned for shuttered Civic Park school in Flint
The vacant Civic Park Elementary School building stands empty on Thursday afternoon, Oct. 3, 2013 in Flint's north side. Civic Park Elementary School is the spot for a proposed 20,000 square foot manufacturing facility by Phil Shaltz, president of Shaltz Automation. Nearly 260 homes need to be torn down in order to realize his vision of the new facility and a revitalized Civic Park neighborhood. Zack Wittman | MLive.com
Zack Wittman
Jeremy Allen | jallen42@mlive.com By Jeremy Allen | jallen42@mlive.com
Follow on Twitter
on October 04, 2013 at 7:19 AM, updated October 04, 2013 at 7:55 AM
FLINT, MI – For the first time in decades, a substantial economic development effort is under way on Flint’s north side.
Phil Shaltz, the president of Shaltz Automation, is in the process of proposing an agreement to the Flint Public School District to purchase the long-shuttered Civic Park Elementary School on West Dayton Street. He would raze the building and erect a 20,000-square-foot manufacturing facility.
The factory would create the space needed for the 100 jobs that St. Luke’s NEW Life Ministries’ garment-making business called for in April of 2013.
“The initial initiative was to get to 100 jobs by the end of next year, which I think is potentially viable. My focus is on taking the NEW Life Enterprise business from where it is now – which, when we started, there were nine employees, and now there are 27 – to 100,” Shaltz said.
“Obviously, we’re out of space at the current facility and we really can’t hire anyone else, because we don’t have anyplace to put them, so we need that new facility.”
But the building of the facility is just one step in Shaltz’s efforts to make the Civic Park Neighborhood a sustainable part of the city.
He said that in order to redevelop the manufacturing site, he would have to leverage that plan and use it as a springboard for the redevelopment of neighboring properties.
“Civic Park – where I lived for many years of my life, attended Civic Park School, went to St. Luke’s Catechism, and my wife and I bought our first house on Walter Street in Civic Park Neighborhood – is designated as a historic district and the $20 million that’s coming into the city for blight removal does not apply to that district,” he said.
“If we’re going to put a manufacturing site on the property, what we have to do is take New Life Enterprises, move it to Civic Park School and use that as a springboard to redevelop that area.
“When I say redevelop, what I mean by that is not to build anymore houses, but to remove blight, make it light and visible and reinvigorate that community that’s leveraged by this 20,000-square-foot manufacturing facility.”
Shaltz said that he has been in talks with the Genesee County Land Bank and the Michigan State Historical Preservation Offices to decertify the Civic Park Neighborhood as a historic district.
If the label is lifted, it would make more than 220 homes in the community eligible for demolition as part of the $20.1 million of federal funds that the Genesee County Land Bank received for blight elimination.
“We’re trying to get this process done very quickly and hopefully we can get that done before the $20 million is allocated to particular districts. The Land Bank, the city and the master planning people all understand this and know what we’re trying to do and I’ve heard nothing from them to say that they would not embrace this process if we can get it done in time,” Shaltz said.
“It’s (more than 220) homes that may come down and I’m assuming that it’s in the couple-million-dollar area – maybe $1.5 to $2 million range. We’re applying for a grant with the state to help us with the manufacturing facility and the Community Venture program under the state of Michigan is already embracing what we’re doing and helps us when we hire these individuals to make these scrubs and gowns.”
Shaltz’s plan has been well-received by city leaders, representatives from the school district, neighborhood residents, NEW Life Ministries, and even by some of his past critics.
Reggie Flynn, pastor of Foss Avenue Baptist Church in Flint and president of North Flint Reinvestment Association, is a well-known advocate for the north side of town and has been a longtime proponent of spreading the wealth beyond the buildup of Flint’s downtown.
“I think it’s an excellent move in terms of key players in the city recognizing that if there is going to be true economic development to revitalize Flint, it must transcend downtown development. So, it’s very encouraging to see that there is going to be some economic development initiatives that are moving into the far northern parts of the city,” Flynn said.
“It’s going to generate jobs, and that’s always a positive. I’m hoping that it’ll create a ripple effect if this is developed and is successful and the key players seek to replicate it in other areas.
“When it comes to business development and economic development in the city, I understand the rationale: Start with the core and work your way out. But they’ve been saying that for years, and so I think that when you talk about taking $2 million (from the Blight Elimination Fund) and placing that in the neighborhoods that need it the most, that’s great,” Flynn added.
For Flint City Councilwoman Jackie Poplar – who represents the Civic Park Neighborhood – the plan is something she’s been long awaiting for one of Flint’s most dilapidated, blight-riddled areas.
Poplar said that the Civic Park area has been in disrepair for many years. For the few people who are still in that area, “It’s more like they’re living in a war zone,” she said.
“It’s not fair to them, because they love their city and they’ve stayed there. It’s about time that there is some economic development on the north side of town,” Poplar said.
“NEW Life has provided the hope, the dream and the future for people. Jobs and training have been provided for people, and now the vision is there to build a facility. We don’t need a facility out in the county or downtown, this should stay in the north end community.”
There are challenges, however, when it comes to getting the facility built and securing the demolition funds needed in order to proceed with the plans.
Shaltz said that the State Historical Preservation Office process of removing the certification involves hiring a consultant to inspect each property in the district.
He said that the inspections should be complete by the turn of the new year, and it will involve a lot of work.
“Right now, from my standpoint, it is getting control of the school, getting control of the area from the blight standpoint, and getting all of the partners from this community – the city and the state – all aligned appropriately so we can redevelop this Civic Park and use it as a model to replicate in other areas and in other cities across the state,” Shaltz said.
“We’ve already done a lot of work with SHPO, and so even if we could control this property today, we’re not going to go forward until we can get this decertified and take the blight out. I’m assuming that should be in the next three to four months. That’s the hope.”
Turning the corner on development in the neighborhood would be huge for the area and the entire city, said 24-year-old Civic Park Neighborhood homeowner Nikita Johnson.
Johnson said that he thinks Shaltz’s plan of bringing work to the area is the best possible way to rebuild the community.
“This is where I live and if they can start by fixing the school up, I think it’ll bring people back to the neighborhood and help build it back up. The generation now doesn’t really know the history of the Civic Park Neighborhood or about how it was built when GM was here,” he said.
“The older people that still stay here might care about it no longer being a historic neighborhood, but I think they’ll be all right with whatever is good for the neighborhood.
“The way they’re doing it now is really how the neighborhood was built up in the first place. When GM was here, they built this neighborhood and the people who worked at GM lived in the houses. That’s how you know the neighborhood will be taken care of and kept up, because it’s not just random people moving in and out. It’s people who work here and they’ll live here and take care of it.”
Perhaps the group that will benefit most from the plans will be St. Luke’s, as its leaders feared for some time now that their mission of providing sustainability for women in Flint could potentially come to a standstill because they have outgrown their current facilities.
Sister Carol Weber, co-founder of NEW Life Enterprises, said that although the business is much more than what they ever believed it would be today – 13 years after they started the women’s center program – they’re grateful for the opportunity to continue to grow and provide additional jobs for at-risk women.
“For us, it really carries out the mission and expands the mission even greater. We are very excited about the growth because that means more people will become self-sustainable. That’s all good for the city of Flint and it’s the city that we need to grow and bring back life into the city,” Weber said.
“The community support has been incredible. Diplomat Please delete me! and Landaal Packaging and Phil Shaltz have gathered behind us simply because they believe in the mission and want to help people get on their feet and not stuck in the system, and we couldn’t do it without them. They partner with us in the vision and we don’t know what we would do without them. Our goal is to simply help women succeed.
“We believe in this end of Flint and that we have a good reputation here and grow the visibility and help people change. We’re in the most highly populated and under-served area of Flint and we’re committed to it.”
Weber said that the current St. Luke location would still serve as the training facility for the employees before they would graduate out of the program and start at Shaltz’s proposed facility as full-time employees.
Flint School District is another hurdle that could possibly hold up the progress. The proposal has not been submitted to the school district, but Shaltz said that he’s talked with administrators, and they seem to be on board with the plan.
Bob Campbell, a spokesman for Flint Schools, said that the district does have a number of buildings that it is looking to dispose of and the schools are supportive of development of properties that it’s no longer using.
“I believe that the day of the 500,000-square-foot manufacturing facility coming into Genesee County, or especially into Flint, is gone. I don’t see that ever happening again. But if we could entice small manufacturing facilities to build their facilities in small communities like Civic Park or other areas – maybe using the schools that exist today that the Flint Public School District wants to get out of – the employees are going to want to live close to that area,” Shaltz said.
“So part of that idea is that, as we employ these 100 people, we can reinvent Civic Park District and those people could live in that district. It’s a great way to have a win-win for everybody. Less blight, more crime, more tax dollars for the city.
Shaltz said that part of the problem with the city right now is that its is cutting expenses are far as it can, but it can’t cut its way to prosperity.
“You have to have income for the city and this is the way to get it,” he said.
Poplar said that Shaltz is doing what he can to save the north side and that no one else has taken an interest like he has.
“It’s a forgotten area. There isn’t a developer around that’s come here except Phil Shaltz, and that’s because he grew up here and he cares about the neighborhood and wants to give back. This is one of the greatest things to happen on the north side of Flint,” she said.
Flint Mayor Dayne Walling said that this is one of a number of promising signs that social entrepreneurship will make up a good portion of the future small business growth in Flint.
“There is a growing awareness among purchasers of the value of social enterprises, so there is great growth potential for businesses like St. Luke’s that are mission-driven and serve the community,” Walling said.
“New businesses like St. Luke’s will help realize the vision in the proposed master plan of bringing new development into neighborhood centers and transportation corridors.”
For Shaltz, it’s not just about redeveloping his old neighborhood or growing his business.
He said that it’s a true investment in the city of Flint and he’s doing it in hopes that the city will continue to see efforts like this duplicated.
“We want to use that as a model for any other manufacturing facility that wants to come into town to replicate that throughout the city, because now we’re making creative change that impacts the bottom line for the city,” he said.
|
|
|
Fri Oct 04, 2013 8:13 am |
|
|
untanglingwebs
El Supremo
|
"Shaltz said that he has been in talks with the Genesee County Land Bank and the Michigan State Historical Preservation Offices to decertify the Civic Park Neighborhood as a historic district.
If the label is lifted, it would make more than 220 homes in the community eligible for demolition as part of the $20.1 million of federal funds that the Genesee County Land Bank received for blight elimination.
“We’re trying to get this process done very quickly and hopefully we can get that done before the $20 million is allocated to particular districts. The Land Bank, the city and the master planning people all understand this and know what we’re trying to do and I’ve heard nothing from them to say that they would not embrace this process if we can get it done in time,” Shaltz said.
“It’s (more than 220) homes that may come down and I’m assuming that it’s in the couple-million-dollar area – maybe $1.5 to $2 million range. We’re applying for a grant with the state to help us with the manufacturing facility and the Community Venture program under the state of Michigan is already embracing what we’re doing and helps us when we hire these individuals to make these scrubs and gowns.” "
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Civic Park is another example of planned obsolescence or demolition-by-neglect. Code violations and abandonment was ignored as more and more resources went downtown. These homes were originally placed in the Land bank proposal requesting $25 million for demolition. The Snyder administration had it removed because of the historic designation. land Bank officials have publicly stated they had to submit the addresses of the homes to be demolished by a deadline. s it now possible they can substitute these 220 homes for another 220 homes already designated. The funding has been committed, so are agencies requesting another community be defunded to include these additional homes? It will be interesting to see how this plays out.
Meanwhile Civic Park in the vicinity of the school is a cesspool of high weeds, trash, abandoned tires, burnt out homes and trashed out homes. Something needs to happen to improve this situation. If some historic homes are demolished, there are historic features that need to be saved to help rehabilitate those that can be salvaged. The City of Flint has already demolished some without going through the proper measures. |
|
|
|
Fri Oct 04, 2013 3:01 pm |
|
|
|
FAQ
Search
Memberlist
Register
Profile
FlintTalk.com Forum Index
> Political Talk
