Two developers responded to the city of Eudora’s invitation to submit proposals to redevelop the so-called Nottingham property.

On Jan. 11, the city issued a request for redevelopment proposals for the property on the city’s Church Street gateway and set the deadline of March 11 for developers to respond. Eudora City Manager Gary Ortiz said he was pleased with the two submissions received to redevelop the property. A closed elementary school and the former Eudora school district football field now occupy the 15-acre site.

“It’s quality, not quantity,” Ortiz said. “We’re pleased with the quality of submittals we received.”

The Nottingham property is on Church Street just north of Kansas Highway 10 and across the street from a strip mall that includes the community’s grocery store and other businesses.

In order to have a hand in the development of its most important gateway, the city purchased the property from the Eudora school district for $850,000. It then secured a four-year temporary note of about $1 million to cover the purchase price’s principal and interest, said Eudora Assistant City Manager Barack Matite. Should the city not find a developer for the property, it would be forced to pay off the debt or roll it into a longer-term bond issue, he said.

Eudora Mayor Tim Reazin said the purchase and financing mechanism created motivation for the Eudora City Commission to find a developer to purchase the property and relieve the city of the debt.

“It’s such a relief to know we have options and can get this project going in the right way,” he said.

Reazin said he hadn’t seen the proposal, but his objectives for the property conformed with goals stated in the request for proposals. That document stated that ideally the site would be transformed into a pedestrian-friendly development that includes a major retail/mixed use “power” center and high-density residential and/or office space. Those development guidelines were developed in 2011 with community input.

The city is now on an aggressive schedule that establishes March 29 as the date a professional review group the City Commission appointed will recommend the developer for the Nottingham property.

The professional group will review the two proposals Friday and interview the candidates March 24. The professional group members include Ortiz, Matite, Eudora public works director Mike Hutto, City Commissioner Tim Bruce, Tom Kaleko of the city’s financial consultant Springsted Inc. and Gary Anderson of the city’s bond counsel Gilmore and Bell.

With the recommendation, the city will start negotiating a redevelopment agreement with the developer. The agreement will spell out the points the city and developer must perform to keep the agreement active, Ortiz said.

It has been assumed the redevelopment agreement would include creation of a tax increment financing district. TIF district arrangements capture tax revenue generated from a property’s development to pay for a number of costs associated with its improvement, including land acquisition, demolition and public and onsite improvements. By state statute, those tax revenues can include franchise fees and sales and property taxes.

Ortiz said it was too early to discuss any public improvements that might be negotiated with a developer, but Reazin and Matite said that Church Street adjacent to the Nottingham property was an obvious candidate.

Currently, the two-lane street has neither turn lanes at numerous access points nor curb and guttering.

Any improvements to the street would require the Kansas Department of Transportation’s approval and participation because it owns the Church Street right of way from the K-10 overpass north to Fifteenth Street, which intersects Church Street from the east at a point near the north end of the old football field, Matite said. The city had informed KDOT about the possibility of improvements to the Nottingham property, which could affect traffic on the K-10/Church Street interchange, he said.

The city discussed enlarging the TIF district to include the commercial district to the east and found business owners there interested. Matite said, however, it was subsequently learned there were limitations to expanding the district.