The Fox Bay Theater Building
Dear all-
(TL,DR- read the bolded comments!)
By now, I'm sure many of you have seen the petition on Change.org to "Save the Fox Bay." It's even been picked up by local press: Hundreds of Whitefish Bay residents sign petition for alternative proposal to reopen Fox Bay theater (msn.com)
I signed the petition because I completely agree with and support the intent of the petition. I also noted (in somewhat different language) that there is merit for the Incentive Grant request proposed by New Land LLC.
Given the emails and comments I've gotten for my stance, I feel that further explanation of my personal position is warranted (more than what was allotted on the petition comment section). I want to emphasize that these are my personal views:
1- I stand by my commitment to "no more banks" on Silver Spring. Some of you have commented with dismay that I support the proposed move of Northwestern Mutual to the 3rd floor of the Fox Bay bldg. This space is completely up and away from the ground level and has no bearing on what a pedestrian might experience on a stroll by the building (unlike the many banks on Silver Spring).
In my view (and one shared by our independent consultant Graef), Northwestern Mutual (NM) is what we would call an "anchor tenant." It's a decidedly less sexy tenant that we might want, but having those jobs on the 3rd floor is good for Silver Spring. Those employees are likely to shop and dine and patronize our Silver Spring establishments. That's also a branch that is likely to have evening events which could be of additional benefit to surrounding businesses in terms of the crowds that might be drawn. Finally, the lease income derived from the occupancy also helps the developer fill the ground-level spaces that we all care about.
2- I personally think that any aspirational development on Silver Spring must involve public-private partnerships including the use of incentive grants such as the one we are exploring with New Land. Admittedly, this is not something that we have a lot of experience with, and that is why things are moving slowly as the Community Development Authority (CDA) is deliberating. I trust their due process.
Some of you have experience with tax-incremental financing (TIF) (for those of you who don’t, here is a great presentation from former village manager and current CDA member Mike Harrigan and here is a FAQ summary from our village staff). Regardless, you might wonder why New Land and Northwestern Mutual might even need money given their deep pockets . I feel that same way on a gut level. It feels wrong. However, people smarter than me who care deeply about this village (the CDA members and our consultants) do think some sort of incentive grant support is important to get our theater building renovated and re-opened. Lacking that economic development expertise, I feel we owe it to those entrusted with those responsibilities to see their recommendations before passing judgment. No one wants to see our village fleeced.
3- While I support TIF Incentive Grant funding for this, I personally do not think a >$770k grant is appropriate. It doesn't feel right to put that amount of funding into aspects of the building that most residents are not immediately interested in. I personally think we could accomplish a more reasonable dollar amount for a grant in a few different ways:
Counter with a lower grant amount for the phase 1 NM renovation to at least get the ball rolling
Reject the phase 2 proposal (or see if the retailers proposed would be willing to foot the bill for any renovation needed)
Tie any funding to a condition or commitment to re-open the theater space.
Again, this is exactly what the CDA is tasked with exploring and I await their due process. It is certainly the lens that I will apply as trustee when this comes to the Village Board for approval.
4- New Land IS committed to phase 3 and to a theater concept. Because of how important this is to our community, I have felt the responsibility to learn as much as I can about New Land Enterprises. To that end, I've reviewed their portfolio and their history. I have met with the CEO Tim Gokhman and the CFO Sheldon Opperman several times. Many of us have an innate bias against developers, understandably. Some of us also recall some unethical practices by former leadership of that company. However, in my review, I have not found anything unethical or "shady" about the current leadership team or its practices. New Land needs this building to succeed. They can't let it languish and I speculate it's not an easy property to sell. They want a good tenant in the theater space and they DEFINITELY hear the importance of this in the community. To that end, I can confirm firsthand they have spoken with various theater operators in town and are considering creative ways to preserve the theater and add restaurant/ live entertainment space to keep the building busy and profitable. I also know they plan to engage with local residents on getting the theater portion of the building re-opened.
5- I want to involve you. I plan to discuss with our village leadership the concept of a listening session or some other mechanism to get your input on the Fox Bay building. We're going to explore that in the coming weeks, especially once we get a CDA recommendation to the Village Board. Stay tuned. I don't think we should be moving forward until we have made sure we address your concerns and enlisted your help.
6- We need a more proactive stance on Silver Spring development. I believe that we need to start an interdepartmental dialogue between the Village Board, the Business Improvement District (BID) and the CDA based on priorities set by residents and business owners to develop and actualize on a vision for Silver Spring. Rather than waiting for future developers to propose a concept, we can and should use a developed vision to seek out tenants and developers to help fulfill that vision, using incentive grant funding to achieve our goals where necessary. We will have nearly $5m in Incentive Grant funding even after the current New Land grant application is considered. That’s the pot of money we should REALLY be planning for! I'm excited to learn what residents are looking for, what my fellow trustees think about this, and where there might be opportunities for dialogue with property owners to make this a reality.
Ok, back to work. Happy Thursday everyone!
-Jay