Staff Reports
Wednesday, March 12, 2014
CORPUS CHRISTI — What a cost-effective way to speed the pace of downtown Corpus Christi’s rejuvenation — code enforcement. Think about it. City code enforcers already are on the clock. Might as well give them stricter codes to enforce against owners of vacant, unsightly downtown property.
Vacant doesn’t have to appear synonymous with abandoned, that uncomfortably close cousin of seedy. Vacant should be synonymous with move-in ready, kissin’ cousin of “site of your future successful business.”
As Kirsten Crow of the Caller-Times reported Sunday, the city is considering a stricter ordinance for maintaining downtown property. The revised ordinances would initiate consequences after one violation instead of two and require owners of vacant buildings to maintain decent-looking storefronts.
Again, the cost-effectiveness is appealing — the City Council meets three times a month anyway. Tacking on another agenda item and voting yes shouldn’t be taxing. No fuss, no multimillion-dollar bond proposal, no referendum cost. And the political capital expenditure, unlike the failed Destination Bayfront bond election, would be minuscule. The only likely opposition — if they dare — would be the owners of these unsightly properties. Their neighbors, who don’t appreciate them bringing down the neighborhood, aren’t likely to support them.
Lots of luck turning it into an issue of property rights. A hovel out in the woods may not be the neighbors’ business, but in the close quarters of downtown, where a lot of the neighbors’ walls touch each other, it sure as heck is the neighboring businesses’ business. It’s also all of Corpus Christi’s business because dilapidated downtown storefronts reflect on all of Corpus Christi in ways that an unkempt yard in a non-central residential subdivision cannot.
The city has made progress in improving downtown, with the Chaparral Street project nearing completion and the long-anticipated Shoreline Boulevard reroute in its early stages. Resident business operators told Crow that these are key projects for downtown’s long-term success.
They also cited major new investments such as the $3.8 million, 54-room Kinney Hotel, which will fill an empty space, and the $29 million mixed-use residential-commercial Cosmopolitan, which will fill the space formerly occupied by Lichtenstein’s Department Store.
Urban planners and downtown investors have said for years that residential development is the missing ingredient. The Nueces Lofts, a recent redevelopment of an office building into 64 apartment units, is a successful example that proves their point. Hint to investors: Downtown Corpus Christi is overloaded with bargain office space that could be turned into premium residential space.
Downtown Corpus Christi is a walkable community, especially for those who work there anyway. It’s an alluring proposition even to those who love their cars. There is little if any other walkable living available in Corpus Christi.
The market forces are gathering in downtown’s favor. The abandoned storefronts and empty lots are a drag on the momentum. They give downtown the appearance of being unsafe. The crime rate is low but downtown visitors’ perspective won’t cooperate with the statistics. Abandoned and seedy are cousins of scary.
Scary is a potential antonym of walkable. It doesn’t take much to make downtown a place most people would be unafraid to walk at night. Stricter ordinances bolstered by strict enforcement are a cheap, convenient, easy remedy.