While speculation is running rampant about what a proposed plan to develop large parts of Gary would entail, administration officials said they are mainly looking at implementing plans that have been put together with the community over the past several years.
“We are just trying to implement what is already in place,” said Joseph Van Dyk, executive director of the city’s redevelopment and planning department.
The city hopes to have a partner in bringing those plans to life.
MaiaCo LLC, is one of two entities that responded to a request for proposals sent out by Gary’s Redevelopment Commission seeking a redevelopment partner. Former Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley is part of the group.
The other proposal came from former mayoral candidate and frequent administration critic Jim Nowacki. Nowacki’s handwritten proposal was deemed non-responsive by Van Dyk. He said the proposal didn’t contain any supporting documentation and didn’t lay out the financial capacity or resources Nowacki would provide as a partner.
MaiaCo proposes to partner with the city’s redevelopment commission to revitalize Gary. This purportedly would be done by acquiring property needed to carry out plans that some residents have complained never come to fruition.
“I hear it all the time,” said Van Dyk in regard to residents’ complaints about this lack of action on the city’s plans.
Some of those plans were mentioned by Van Dyk at a recent meeting of the city council’s planning committee, including the 2004 University Park Plan, the 2005 Gary Green Link, the 2008 Gary Comprehensive Plan, the 2009 Vision for Broadway, and the 2010 Smart Growth Ordinance.
In the meantime, Van Dyk said the city is negotiating terms and performing background checks on the MaiaCo proposal.
“We have a lot to negotiate still,” Van Dyk said.
Mayor Karen Freeman-Wilson said she would like to see something in place with the group by Sept. 1.
MaiaCo referred all questions to city officials.
Residents want transparency
Concern from the community was raised about the proposal when one of Daley’s partners in the group was featured in a video, talking about tearing down a large part of Gary and rebuilding it. Some residents felt they were being shut out of the process in how the city’s future will be shaped.
City officials also were not pleased when they found out about the video. Van Dyk said the partner, renowned architect Peter Ellis, had a different approach to development than city officials, and officials will no longer be working with him.
And some people, like resident Carolyn McCrady, said there has not been enough transparency concerning a project that could transform the city.
“We can’t say yea or nay because we don’t know what they (the city and MaiaCo) are planning,” she said.
McCrady said she has heard the group is proposing to make a presentation to the community when they have the plan ready, but she added that the community should be engaged in the proposal prior to that point. She suggested that the community may want to hold a referendum on any proposal.
Van Dyk said that there is a difference between an agreement being made with a partner, and putting a plan in place and acquiring property. He said there will be community engagement and that part of the proposal calls for a communication component.
“We have a great opportunity for transformational change, and the only way to do that is to reflect what the community hopes for,” he said. “This doesn’t work if residents are not engaged or if they don’t buy in.”
McCrady and others said they have heard former Gary Mayor Scott King may be involved, but King said, “I have nothing to do with it,” when contacted Thursday.
The challenges of development
The request for proposal put out earlier this year said the commission was seeking a partner to perform “predevelopment activities” that could include site assembly, marketing and property acquisition:
“Firm will be willing to invest up front capital to advance redevelopment projects and will possess the ability to identify, market and leverage Gary’s underperforming assets such as vacant land, infrastructure capacity, and untapped partnership opportunities.”
Van Dyk and others have said that site acquisition is made difficult because the average city lot size is small and the largest city-owned parcels are either contaminated brownfields or wetlands. There is very little contiguous land now available for development according to Van Dyk.
The MaiaCo proposal anticipates the firm “funding the acquisition of as many as 3,500 parcels via tax sale within the first 12 months” of the implementation of the strategy. Van Dyk said the commission would continue to own the parcels, a significant portion of which he anticipates would consist of vacant land.
Van Dyk also said that some of the buildings on the parcels could be rehabbed as part of any final plan.
Ellis, on the video, spoke about concentrating on the Broadway area of the city, but Van Dyk said a focus area has not been settled on yet.
“Any geographic designations will come out of the agreement that is ultimately reached,” he said.
Van Dyk, however, said the areas would not include the lakefront, beach or Marquette Park areas.
In addition to the MaiaCo proposal, Freeman-Wilson said she has received inquiries from other private partners interested in doing smaller development efforts within the city. Van Dyk said they received some additional inquiries when they put out the request for proposals earlier this year, and he expects the city will be seeking other partners in the future.
The city already has linked up with various government and private partners in helping to redevelop Gary, and previously worked with Daley during a land parcel survey done in conjunction with the University of Chicago’s Harris School of Public Policy. Daley is a distinguished senior fellow with the school.