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Aggieville Community Vision
14th & Laramie Redevelopment
A 3-story mixed-use building on the corner of 14th and Laramie, across from Burger King, is under construction. Once complete, it will have about 5,000 square feet of commercial-retail space and 25 loft apartments. The building will serve as a gateway to Aggieville from the west, creating a more defined urban edge to the district. The project is expected to be complete summer of 2023.
Spring 2021: Aggieville Hotel
In August 2018, the southwest corner of 12th and Bluemont, including part of the old City parking lot next to Starbucks, was rezoned to allow for the construction of a five-story hotel.
The hotel contains 127 guest rooms and a 113-stall parking garage. This was the first major private commercial redevelopment following the adoption of the Aggieville Community Vision Plan, which envisions the Bluemont corridor as a high-density urban edge of Aggieville. Construction began in October 2019 was completed Summer 2021.
Summer 2019: TIF District Establishment
The Aggieville Community Vision requires a funding source to finance public improvements like multi-story parking garages, landscaping, and street amenities. One of those sources is Tax Increment Financing (TIF) district.
When a TIF district is created, the City establishes a base assessment valuation of property in the district and freezes it. The district continues to provide property tax revenue to the City, County, USD 383 and State at that level for the next 20 years. The City then captures the increase above the base in tax revenue resulting from rising property value in the future years from redevelopments and the natural increase in property value over time. The City invests that money directly back into the district in the form of public improvements. Those public improvements attract more private development and reinvestment, which in turn increases the value of property in the district that the city can again capture and invest back in the district- and the process repeats itself. This is the same mechanism the City used to finance improvements to Downtown since 2006. It is not a new tax or fee, but is simply a redirection of tax revenue.
The Manhattan City Commission established the boundary in March 2019 and it was finalized Summer 2019. Because of the nature of TIFs, the more valuable and earlier in the 20 year window redevelopment occurs, the greater value the TIF will provide for Aggieville.
Summer 2019: Parking Garage Design
In May 2019 the City Commission authorized finalization and execution of design agreements with Olsson, of Manhattan to begin creating designs for a public parking garage on the city-owned parking lot at N. Manhattan Avenue and West Laramie Street (south of Rally House). With the garage will come a parking management plan. The garage is was planned to supply approximately 500 spaces on five levels. Ground floor commercial space will be integrated along N. Manhattan and Laramie street with a ground breaking around the beginning of 2021. Designs for the streets around where the new public parking garage will be built south of Rally House and where the new hotel will be built at 12th and Bluemont were also created. The designs include new amenities like sidewalk widening, lighting, seating, landscaping, and temporary and/or permanent plazas.
Spring 2019: Delta Sigma Phi Historic Designation
The Delta Sigma Phi Fraternity, located at the northwest corner of 11th and Fremont was listed on the Register of Historic Kansas Places on May 4th, 2019. The building was constructed in 1907 as a YMCA and hosted Kansas State Agricultural College’s first basketball game. It later became St. Mary’s Hospital. The Delta Sigma Phi fraternity purchased the building in 1955. Ownership has been maintained by the fraternity ever since. The building is listed as an excellent example of both the twentieth century revival style and the mid-century modern style in Manhattan. Preserving this building is a priority in the ACV plan and the building underwent a major renovation in 2020, largely updating the facilities inside.
Spring 2019: Phase II Zoning Amendments
Changes related to increased building heights, building design, and reduced parking requirements in Aggieville's Zoning (C-3) were adopted by the City Commission in March 2019. These changes will unlock private redevelopment potential on the edges of Aggieville along Laramie and Bluemont primarily by allowing buildings up to five stories tall. These redevelopments will ultimately support the vision for Aggieville as a vibrant urban district.
Winter 2018/2019: Streetscape & Triangle Park Design
In Summer 2018 we kicked off the streetscape and Triangle Park design phase of the plan. It included public visioning sessions, design charrettes, surveys, and focus groups to close in on a design concept to improve the streets, sidewalks, landscaping, traffic circulation, and pedestrian experience in Aggieville. Plan concepts were accepted by the Commission in early 2019. See Volume I and Volume II of the Concept Plan.
Fall 2018: Changes to Parking Limits
New parking limits went into effect fall 2018. The changes will add parking capacity to the district area while the Aggieville Hotel parking garage is under construction.
Summer 2018: 12b Redevelopment
In June 2017, land on the north side of the 1100 block of Bluemont Avenue was rezoned to allow for the construction of the 37-unit apartment building, 12b. This was the first major private redevelopment project following the adoption of the Aggieville Community Vision Plan, which further enhances the Bluemont Avenue Corridor as a high-density urban edge of Aggieville and provides additional housing options in the Aggieville area. The project was completed in August 2018.
Winter 2017/2018: Parking and Infrastructure Assessment
The City partnered with Olsson Associates and Walker Consultants to determine future parking demand based on the redevelopment envisioned in the Aggieville Community Vision Plan, and how that demand might be met through multi-level parking garages. Capacity and potential constrains on infrastructure, including water, sewer, and storm-water due to redevelopment were also assessed. The final report provides cost estimates for various scenarios so policies for infrastructure provision, public–private partnerships, and parking management strategies may be implemented.
Fall 2017: Property Tax Analysis
The Aggieville Community Vision is likely to require a public funding source to finance public improvements like multi-story parking garages, landscaping, and street amenities. One possible financing tool is “tax increment financing”. When a TIF district is created, the City establishes a base valuation of the district. The district continues to provide property tax revenue to the City, County, USD 383 and State at that level for the next 20 years, demonstrated in the graph below. The City then captures the increase above the base in tax revenue resulting from rising property value in the future years. This is not a new tax or additional fee, it is a result of growth and increased valuations due to development and increases in land values. The City then captures and invests that money directly back into the district in the form of public improvements. Those public improvements attract more private development and reinvestment, which in turn increases the value of property in the district that the city can again capture and invest back in the district- and the process repeats itself. This is the same mechanism the City used to finance improvements Downtown over the last 10 years.
How feasible is that for Aggieville? Looking at the current picture of citywide local property tax being generated, Aggieville and the downtown are already the most efficient property tax generators per square foot in the city (see map below). In fact, three of the top five most efficient generators in Manhattan are in Aggieville and 98 of the top 100 are either in Downtown or Aggieville. Thus reinvestment through area-based financing in these areas yields great potential for improvements.
The Aggieville Community Vision plan calls for substantial redevelopment of land currently locked up in surface parking and low-density development that could be redeveloped to substantially increase property value of the district, making Aggieville more vibrant and commercially viable.
