Springfield Takes Another Step Towards Downtown Redevelopment

On Monday, representatives of the Springfield Business Improvement District met with Township officials to begin work on downtown redevelopment.  BID Chairman Mike Scalera, Vice-Chairman Scott Seidel signed a Redevelopment Counsel Services Agreement after their Board of Directors unanimously voted to retain McManimon, Scotland & Baumann, LLC. of Roseland, New Jersey.  Mayor Ziad Andrew Shehady, Township Administrator Anthony Cancro, BID Executive Director Beth Lippman, and Joseph Baumann and Matthew Jessup of McManimon, Scotland & Baumann, LLC. were on hand for the signing and to prepare the next steps for redevelopment.

For decades, the downtown has been a blemish on Springfield and an issue that was not adequately addressed.  In 2010, Deputy Mayor Jerry Fernandez proposed the creation of a Business Improvement District that would form a public-private partnership with commercial property owners, businesses, resident and Township officials.  This year, they have forged a relationship with stakeholders and raised funds to take the lead on redevelopment.  Deputy Mayor Fernandez commented, “Government cannot force redevelopment unilaterally.  Now we have buy-in from property owners and businesses demonstrating a real commitment to the future of Springfield.”

Evolving redevelopment, land use laws, environmental regulations, the location of businesses along State and County roadways and a lack of foresight and leadership have all made redevelopment a challenge.  There have been past attempts but those efforts were fragmented and lacked focus or direction to move realistic redevelopment forward.  Mayor Shehady and Deputy Mayor Fernandez have been meeting with professionals and experts who have proven experience to help advance redevelopment.  Mayor Shehady explained, “This is a necessary step to finally see real downtown redevelopment and have a downtown we can all be proud of!  This will chart the course for a redevelopment plan, facilitate negotiations with property owners and prospective developers and explore financing and incentives to encourage economic development and revitalization.  The goal is to have a finished product by the end of 2013 that will be the key to starting construction.”

Residents are invited to attend the October 9th Township Committee meeting at 7 p.m. for a presentation led by Deputy Mayor Jerry Fernandez and to hear an update from the Springfield Business Improvement District and McManimon, Scotland & Baumann, LLC.