By Bob Seidenberg
rseiden914@gmail.com
Evanston’s empty storefront spaces may be placed into use as a retail incubator or as a pop up program to launch new businesses under a proposal that won the backing of a city committee Wednesday.
Economic Development Committee (EDC) members voted unanimously to recommend the full city council approve up to $100,000 to fund creation of the program in which the city might assume a short term lease of an empty storefront to showcase a fledgling business.
It could be a one person candle making enterprise currently working out of a church basement, Paul Zalmezak, the Economic Development Manager, suggested to the committee.
“What I think is really important is that we’re talking about those small entrepreneurs that are not going to be found by brokers,” he said. “They’re living here in the community. They’re on Etsy. They’re doing all the online things. This gets them that next step up.”
City needs to play ‘a stronger partner role’
Officials proposed the move with the city, “not out of step with national and regional trends,” still facing “persistent commercial vacancy and challenges with its retail mix/variety that extend beyond Evanston’s typical market conditions,” said Katheryn Boden, the city’s Economic Development Coordinator, in a memo to the committee outlining the program. “Downtown retail continues to struggle due to reduced foot traffic from hybrid office work policies, pandemic-induced consumer behavior changes (e.g. increased ordering from home) and national retail consolidation (I.e., fewer stores)” she said.
She noted an earlier Evanston Thrives report and recent EDC work highlighting the need for the city to become “a stronger partner to businesses and organizations seeking to activate public spaces with creative initiatives,” she said.
“While retail vacancies, both downtown and elsewhere, are within privately owned spaces,” she wrote, “the City can play an important near-term role by promoting new ideas and lowering barriers to non-traditional uses. This initiative could include programs that support short-term leases for empty storefronts or situations in which the City assumes a lease to establish a retail incubator or pop-up concept.”
The city is partnering with Clair Seizovik, an urban strategist, who came to officials with the idea after managing a successful holiday market event late last year which brought local artists and shoppers together to a pop-up in the vacated Bookman’s Alley space near 1712 Sherman Ave.
Seizovic moved back to the area about a year and a half ago, after more than ten years of experience in the field, including serving as a development project manager for various adaptive reuse real estate projects in Massachusetts.
At the committee meeting Wednesday, , she told EDC members that she hoped her role in the pilot program would go beyond consulting “on what the plan would be, but actually see it through and see it to to the future beyond the program”
She said the goal is to reduce commercial vacancy, strengthen community, the root of businesses…and revitalize retail corridors while making a low risk entry point for these businesses to share their work with the community.”
The two-day “ highly curated” holiday market she managed at the Bookman’s Alley location had 1,100 people come through, even with snow in (that) Sunday; the businesses made collectively $20,000 in direct sales over the weekend, so you can do the math on the sales tax,” she said to EDC members, “but it’s pretty good.”
The biggest challenge, she said, “was the empty Bookman’s Alley property.”
“I networked and spoke with the owner,” she said. “ He wanted to do something interesting. He was willing to consider a revenue share, and I decided I had two months (to prepare) and (said) ‘Let’s do it, let’s see what happens.’”
Her proposal outlines a three-phase strategy to put the plan into motion, starting with surveys of business and property owners on what they’d like to see.
Subject to committee support, Seizovic will draft another survey to be sent to Evanston entrepreneurs and regional retailers that might be looking to expand or test a new market, Boden said. Officials are aiming to have the program in operation by September of this year.
Bookman’s alley event persuaded
In discussion, several EDC members cited the Bookman’s Alley market in support of the concept moving forward.
Councilmember Clare Kelly, in whose First Ward that site is located, said she attended the event and “it was amazing. I was really blown away by how active and vibrant and packed it was.I think that’s what we’re looking to do — not just fill spaces anymore with a lot of inactive storefronts (advertising) other services — schools, churches, medical facilities — this (the market) really did activate the downtown, brought people there just for that.”
Councilmember Matt Rodgers, whose Eighth Ward is located away from downtown at the far south end of the city, said his interest in moving and exploring the model for his own ward, located on the far south end of the city.
He indicated more interest in the incubators, which are to be supported by services to help businesses stabilize and scale. “ “Whereas pop-ups are fun and exciting…they can produce things here and there but for a long term strategy I’mmreally interested in seeing what we can do.”
“Uncomfortable, with sole source’: Davis
Councilmember Parielle Davis, 7th, participating through virtual hookup in the meeting, though, questioned why the city wouldn’t send out a request for proposal on the program, inviting wider interest in the program.
“I’m not exactly sure why we’re doing single source, and it makes me a little uncomfortable for us to doing so,” she said.
Urgency is one factor, responded Zalmezak. He said he fields calls in a daily basis from landlords and property owners, asking what they can do to fill empty spaces. “This is a way to do that,” he said.
With an RFP, the city wouldn’t be able to launch a program before 2027.
Committee members Clare Kelly and Andy Vick, executive director of Downtownevanston.irg, the nonprofit group which manages and provides management services for the downtown district, also spoke infavor of move forward.
Kelly noted that she normally pushes back against sole source proposals. I this case, she cited Bookman’s Alley event as weighing strongly in Seizovic’s favor, feeling, “it’s a sure bet. We’ve seen it.”
Vick added that “we have an excellent candidate here who has a proven track record’ coupled with a recommendation from our economic development department and at a certain point we have to trust staff that we have empowered to lead our economic development activities to make a recommendation— and it’s a good recommendation,” he said before the unanimous vote.
The proposal next goes to the full city council probably to be acted upon at one of their meeting next month.