Developer: Vacant warehouses along Mosley in Old Town would flourish if city approves funding

Abandoned warehouses along Mosley between Second and Third streets in Old Town would bloom with restaurants, entertainment venues and offices under a plan envisioned by developer David Burk.

Burk’s Mosley Investments LLC seeks to use tax-increment financing to pay for street and other public improvements in the area. The Wichita City Council has set a Jan. 6 public hearing on that proposal.

Burk said he is prepared to make an announcement about new tenants in January, pending city approval of the tax-increment financing district.

In a tax-increment financing district, property tax dollars generated by new improvements help pay over time for projects such as streets, sewers, parking and lighting.

In this case, the city would reconstruct Mosley between Second and Third, and Rock Island for a half-block south of Third, as brick streets with brick sidewalks and 33 on-street parking stalls.

Mark Elder, development analyst in the office of urban development with the city, said the city also would install lighting that is similar to lighting in the rest of Old Town, as well as benches, trash cans and bike racks.

“It extends the look and feel of Old Town,” Elder said.

The improvements are estimated to cost $1.5 million.

Mosley between Second and Third is the only street left that hasn’t been reworked in what is defined as Old Town, Burk said. Mosley now is blighted with railroad tracks, gravel, asphalt, concrete and weeds.

Burk’s Mosley Investments LLC plans to redevelop the former warehouse buildings along both sides of Mosley into about 62,000 square feet of commercial space.

The buildings aren’t conducive to residential development because they are only one story, he said.

Renovation already is under way on the buildings, and they could be occupied in a couple of years, Burk said.

But, he said, “it’s going to be hard to get tenants for those buildings unless the streets are redone.”

This story was originally published December 2, 2014 at 7:30 PM with the headline "Developer: Vacant warehouses along Mosley in Old Town would flourish if city approves funding."