Print edition: 
City officials have unveiled new criteria that developers will have to meet to earn public assistance with downtown redevelopment projects.
The proposal goes before the Wichita City Council on Tuesday during its scheduled workshop.
Under the criteria, the city would no longer take direct financial stakes in downtown projects, such as the city's facade investments with Real Development's downtown office buildings.
Instead, public funds would be limited to infrastructure projects, like parking and streetscapes, with a direct public benefit, "targeting investment to support market-driven development," Terry Cassady, the city's development assistance director, said Friday.
So, private land acquisition and demolition are now eliminated from any tax increment financing projects downtown, essentially removing the city as an equity stakeholder in any private development project.
However, the city's current TIF policy — which does provide money for private land acquisition and demolition — remains in effect outside the downtown area.
Scott Knebel, the city's downtown redevelopment manager, acknowledged the shift away from past city development policy.
"I don't think this plan suggests that we should do things differently because we think we've made mistakes in the past," Knebel said. "This is a market-based plan that says these are the market opportunities available in a global, changing economy."
Expected later this year is an announcement on the second prong of the development plan — a revolving loan fund backed by a consortium of the city's biggest banks, the first major move into commercial lending locally since the recession.
Two of the city's biggest commercial developers took different views of the city's announcement.
Old Town developer Dave Burk said the announcement is a key step in a downtown where momentum is growing for development.
Waterfront developer Johnny Stevens said the city's move to step out of direct business partnerships is good, but he doubts the council can stick to it.
"A consortium of banks stepping up to help on lending is definitely a benefit for development," Burk said.
"We have some momentum going, and we need to continue that. A lot is driven on the economy and the perception is the economy is getting better. Everything points to more development downtown."
Some of the key criteria in the city's proposal include:
* At least 10 percent equity from the developer.
* A proportional guarantee for any public revenue shortfall.
* Passing the city's vetting process.
* A letter of interest from the project's primary lender or equity investor.
* Compliance with the downtown master plan's general and district design guidelines, including preferable uses with transparent facades that fit into downtown's character and enhance walkability.
* A private-to-public capital investment ration of 2-to-1.
Developers will thus have "predictability and certainty as they consider us," said Jeff Fluhr, president of the Wichita Downtown Development Corp.
The criteria closely follows recommendations by the city's Boston-based downtown master planner, Goody Clancy, which has urged the city to limit its financial participation in downtown projects.
David Dixon, the lead Wichita planner for Goody Clancy, praised the policy.
"There are things the public does well and there are things the private sector does well," he said. "The benefit is when both come together and make sense."
Dixon said that any sense of "desperation" by city government to kick-start downtown redevelopment with "public grants" for private development should have passed: Investment downtown is coming, he said.
"It has been far too easy to put money into a development project and look at only the developer's point of view, not the broader point of view," he said.
"And when you don't have a rigorous process requiring developers to be fully financially transparent so you can judge your liability as a city and the financial feasibility of the project, it's much harder to make thoughtful investments on the public sector side."
