STIEGER LAKE LANE TO STAY
AS PART OF DOWNTOWN VICTORIA

At a Victoria City Council Workshop on October 12^th, councilmembers voted to keep Stieger Lake Lane an open road through town.  They made no move at this time to move the Rich Gannon/Old Beer Distributorship Building.  And they will not order the extension of Tower Boule-vard east to Cabin Fever and Commercial Avenue until development warrants it.

Leading up to that rather important decision on Stieger Lake Lane council-members held a two-hour workshop on October 5^th to hear results of the Feasibility Study as performed by TKDA and to view the Downtown Master Plan as it stands today. 
Phase One included Main Street, Tower Boulevard, part of Stieger Lake Lane, Rose Street, and the various utilities.  It provided for the new buildings and businesses located in the Clocktower, the Kidtalk, and the Notermann Building.  Phase Two is, roughly, everything east of Phase One including Quamoclit Street down to Cabin Fever.

From the Engineer.
Ron Quanbeck, engineer with TKDA, reported that the feasibility study on Phase II of downtown redevelopment was "being put together to support the city's efforts." 
The project:  reconstructing public infrastructure, such as streets, watermain, sanitary sewer and storm sewer, in order to provide a base for the overall develop-ment of the Victoria Downtown District. 
Mr. Quanbeck cited three questions that he would answer that evening.  1) When the whole thing is done, what is the overall cost of the project?  2) What is the engineer's recommended project?  3) What is the minimum size project that is necessary as work would begin on street reconstruction?
He presented layout sketches and cost figures for two alternative projects, plus minimum projects for each of the two alternatives.  The main difference between the two alternative projects is the closing or continued openness of Stieger Lake Lane between Schmitty's and Kidtalk.
Regardless of which alternative the Victoria City Councilmembers might choose, Mr. Quanbeck suggested that parking development occurs as develop-ment might occur. 
"Parking ramps are really expensive," he said, "and they displace surface park-ing spaces, which really increases their cost."  He said the construction for a ramp ranges from $32,000 to $44,000 per park-ing space.
Another "pretty significant cost," he said, is the acquisition of right of way.  That cost also depends on which alterna-tive councilmembers might choose.
As presented by TKDA, Alternate #1 - it includes keeping all of Stieger Lake Lane open - has an estimated total project cost of $5 million.  Ultimately, as the project might come to include amenities and parking lots, Alternate #1 would come to cost an estimated $8 million.
Alternate #2 - getting rid of part of Stieger Lake Lane and reconstructing the alley by the Victoria House plus recon-structing Tower Blvd - has an estimated project cost of $6 million.  Ultimately, as the project might come to include ameni-ties and parking lots, Alternate #2 would come to cost an estimated $9 million.
Minimum downtown infrastructure improvements for each scenario were estimated to total either $1.4 million or $2.4 million, respectively.  None of the estimated project costs included costs for burying overhead utilities or structure demolition and site preparation.
It was mentioned that 75% of the streets and sidewalk costs could be assessed based on square footage and developable area.  Stated Mayor Jerry Bohn about extending streets or sidewalks at this time, "It's hard to imagine why we would go beyond [east of] Quamoclit until we'd have a project."  That project might be the addition of new retail space, for example.

From the Planning Consultant
In getting down to infrastructure costs, Planning Consultant Mark Kaltsas said, "We need to get some direction as to Stieger Lake Lane, its closing or opening.  The value in dollars of a project can potentially be less to the developer and also the city by closing the road.  It's an important decision."
"The parking ramp is also something that needs direction," said Mark.  "It might be more feasible in ten years."
"City Hall is another big issue," he continued.  "If you put parking here [at the current location of City Hall], it could help offset parking requirements else-where.  What we're doing is putting out a plan that works conceptually."
Mark spoke of relative costs of down-town buildings and the relative amount of TIF dollars they return to the city.  Using approximate figures, he said the Clock-tower is around 10,000 square feet, worth about $1 million, and generates about $12,000 per year in TIF money.  This amounts to about $150,000 over the 23-year life of the TIF.
Again using approximate figures, he said the Wensmann Condos consist of 42 units on 1.8 acres, is worth about $10 million to $12 million, and can generate $125,000 per year in TIF money over 26 years.
For purposes of comparison, he pro-jected that the 25-condo building pro-posed by developer Mary Meuwissen is approximately a $24 million project and can generate $3 million in TIF money over 23 years.

Click here to continue City Scoop.