I’ll say this for the long-struggling WaterWalk development: Its latest call to the bullpen has summoned the Mariano Rivera of Wichita entrepreneurs.
And we’re going to find out soon how much fastball Jack DeBoer has left, because the bases are loaded down there on the east bank and WaterWalk has nobody at all out. And the fans in the stands are hot under the collar, pointing fingers all the way.
DeBoer’s got a ton of challenges on his plate: The public’s angry about their investment and the lack of progress at the development, retailers and restaurateurs are running, not walking, from leases in this credit environment. His one retailer down there has a front door pointing the wrong way.
And perhaps most significantly, as we’ve seen this week, the only support he’s going to get from City Hall – the same building where the 2003 budget cuts that doomed the project got their start – is moral. This city council certainly wants DeBoer to succeed. But they’re out of money.
City Manager Bob Layton on Friday professed his confidence in DeBoer, which is more than some of the city’s commercial development crowd voiced this week. Some fear that the development will fail, leaving a financially strapped City Hall on the hook for $41 million in infrastructure scheduled to be paid back by the tax revenues WaterWalk has yet to generate.
DeBoer is a brilliant man, a fountain of ideas that he maps out on his trademark legal pad. He’ll need all of them to strike out the side down on the east bank.
But don’t bet against that happening quite yet. It’ll be fascinating to watch DeBoer’s work in the bottom of WaterWalk’s ninth inning.
4 Comments
Copying what I posted on WE Blog:
It is time to completely redefine WaterWalk. The idea of “Old Town with a Ditch” that was approved 7+ years ago was doomed from the start. Council was told that at the Hearing; that is why they have heavily edited the minutes:
http://www.wichitagov.org/NR/rdonlyres/39E5143D-D08A-40D8-BBF6-8A41FCE84435/0/09102002Council_Minutes.txt
Jack DeBoer was the chief architect of the plan from the beginning.
We need to abandon that ill-advised vision of another bar district. Even the new consultants have observed that there is only so much demand for that and with Delano, Old Town etc we do NOT need another redundant expensive bar district.
Instead, the development needs to change to offices and other similar business on the paoperty between Wichita St and Water St. As I recall DeBoer wanted to destroy the Boathouse in order to build his office building on that river-front site. Maybe he can build it at Water/Waterman overlooking Hyatt Park. Or, maybe even better, build one on the River where Gander Mountain is.
The point is – this so-called development needs to move forward as a PRIVATE development. The highest and best use for that land is NOT Daquiri bars and comedy clubs. We have such enterprizes in abundance in Wichita. Build some top-notch office space and bring employment back downtown. That has been the successful business model at privately developed Water Front.
Ben, I have to agree with you. A good start would be DeBoer’s own company downtown, followed by the construction of some quality Class A office space, which is in short supply.
If a restaurant or two came in as well, no big deal, but I am inclined to agree with you – the point of downtown revitalization emphasis isn’t going to be WaterWalk. Instead, it’ll be the ground between Old Town and the arena, featuring Union Station.
My core – the Douglas corridor from Seneca to Clifton Square. Delano, CII/downtown/IBA, Old Town, Douglas Design. 3.3 miles. Walkable for many of us; use Q’s to make it really accessable.
Parking AWAY from Douglas – City Hall, County, WaterWalk, L-D, Exploration Place. Maybe add parking at I-135 and 1st/2nd right at the exit. I don’t htink it is a good idea having people from out of town trying to “wayfind” on their laptops while driving downtown. Park in easy to find locationa at the periphery and then a relaxing stroll or Q ride. My old New York practice was to take trasit to a point several miles away from where I was staying and then “wander” back – hitting spots on the way.
I’m listening. Err, I mean reading.