The Veterans Administration expressed the need to the Salvation Army and hoped there was room in the their North Market Street men’s shelter. Unfortunately, the shelter is at capacity and has a constant waiting list. By the way, a handful of veterans are already being housed at the Salvation Army’s shelter. A new veterans center would open up additional space at the current shelter for other homeless men.

When a longtime client of mine was briefed on the situation, he immediately expressed interest in helping. He owns a vacant office building in a centralized location capable of being converted into a veteran’s center. Being that he does an extensive amount of work with non-profit organizations, there is no better person to be proactive and assist the Salvation Army. We have already worked with an architect to show us how the space could be modified to provide sleeping quarters, gathering space, a kitchen and cafeteria, a counseling office, and even the potential for an in house medical clinic. We have also approached city officials to discuss any necessary zoning changes and to ask for their support.

So where are we now with the project? Support of the V.A….check. Desire by the Salvation Army to supply the shelter and staff the center…check. A quality building in a centralized location and a sympathetic seller…check. The final piece to the puzzle is financial support.

While the Salvation Army could put together a capital campaign to raise the funds, the process is too time consuming. The need is now, and no one wants these veterans to be forced to brave another cold Central Illinois winter without proper shelter. Salvation Army officials are in the process of pursuing grant programs that could help, and the local United Way has expressed their support. However, it will take more than a few grants and donations to get this project off the ground.

That is where the readers of Halfway Interesting come in. Who do you know who might be sympathetic towards a cause such as this? Perhaps the descendants of a fallen veteran would be interested in honoring their family member with a large donation that could help kick this project into high gear. The Salvation Army would certainly be interested in giving naming rights to a local veteran. Maybe you are aware of a local company or organization that would be interested in financial support of a community veterans shelter. It is hard to imagine anyone living in our community that does not have some sort of connection (current or past) with a veteran of our armed forces.

These veterans are our neighbors, our family, our friends. They fought for us to keep our country free and to give us the opportunities that we all enjoy today. The thought of these men on the street in the extreme heat and humidity that we have faced this summer makes me sick. If you are reading this article, I bet you feel the same way. Feel free to contact me if you have any ideas or would like to help. The people of Champaign County are some of the most generous and compassionate in the world, and I hope this message reaches the right people.

Champaign Urbana Days is one of the largest and most exciting events for the African American Community of Champaign County. Each year, hundreds of people, young and old come together to celebrate family and reunite in Douglass Park. I personally know of many people who travel from as far as Florida to attend this event and many reunions are planned around it. The event offers live entertainment, great food, children's activities and a senior citizen luncheon.

Yet when I look at the front page of the Convention and Visitors Bureau website in the featured events section and the highlighted upcoming events, the Champaign Urbana Days is not mentioned. In fact the event is regulated to the calendar section which is the website equivalent of the back of the bus. This pattern has been repeated since the creation of the CVB and in fact there are no specific services that the CVB performs that is inclusive and serves the minority community.

The Economic Development Corporation of Champaign County cites as their mission :

Primary Functions
Business and Education Liaison – We’re your link to the community, the University of Illinois, Parkland College and other entities.

Site Location/Expansion Assistance – Look to us for help in finding just the right spot to locate your new facility and/or for assistance in expanding your presence in Champaign County.

Information Clearinghouse – Turn to us for one-stop shopping for information on business issues, incentives, education, available sites and buildings, and key statistics.

Business Visitation Program – Locate and grow here, and we will engage with you to help strengthen the county’s cooperative business environment; and to identify, report and address issues that may prohibit economic growth.

Key Issue Exploration – We look forward to providing you with a forum for the public or private discussion of key development issues.

In my discussions with both the Executive Director and Deputy ED of the EDC not one person in this office has ever visited a minority owned business in the 1st District other than Dash management which owns the McDonalds in town. Not one. I have met with many of these business and they are in need of these services listed but the EDC ignores them and provides no assistance at all. Not one single business owned by an African American or Latino in Champaign County has received any OFFER of assistance by the EDC.    

These two city funded entities have received over $500,000 per year over the last five years for a total of $2.5 million  yet 22% of the population of the City and 15% of the County residents/business have received no services from them.

Therefore when we examine the success of the teen job program, which predominantly served the black and latino communities, we assert that the continued City funding of this program is not only essential, but a key component of fairness. The Teen Job Program and its success dictates that continued City funding  is on par with the continued funding for the EDC and CVB. $2.5 million has already been spent by these agencies and they completely left out 22% of  a specific City of Champaign demographic population in performing their services. That disparity can no longer be tolerated by the good people of Champaign and City of Champaign funding for the Teen Job program over the next five years will help rectify that stain of exclusion by two agencies that receive substantial City funding.  

The current leadership of these two agencies, particularly at the EDC, provides no confidence to the members of the minority community in Champaign County that anything will change with respect for more inclusion in the services they provide. Sad but very true.

While there are many reasons why a national retail chain may leave our area, here are the basics. We can use any large national retailer as an example. As the national recession set in, the leaders of the company have a quarterly meeting in order to examine the performance of their stores and regions. Revenues are down and many stores are losing money. How do they decide which stores to close? Again, there are other reasons, but in general they will look closely at stores that are not performing well in terms of revenue, and stores that have high overhead. Stores with both poor revenue and high overhead are obvious targets for closure. Next are the marginal stores.

Think back to an old store that you used to frequent before it closed. I bet you can think of at least one that always seemed to be busy. You were never alone while shopping and you always thought the store was doing well…that is until the day the store closed. Why? Most likely, your favorite shopping destination was a marginal store and was put on that company’s watch list. Also on the watch list (hypothetically) were stores in Milwaukee, Indianapolis, Tampa, San Francisco, and Bloomington, IN. The company’s real estate manager is given this list of six and instructed to close three. Of the six, San Francisco is the top revenue earner but also has the highest overhead…close it. The profit margins in Milwaukee, Indy, and Tampa are all similar to the Champaign and Bloomington stores. But the ultimate result is that Champaign and Bloomington meet the same fate as San Fran. The reason is simple; the other three stores are less risky than the two college towns.

So what of all the vacant boxes? Well, similar decisions are made as the economy improves and retailers begin to open new stores. Let’s say that a retailer’s real estate manager is asked to open three new stores in the Midwest. The choices are Champaign, St. Louis, Minneapolis, and Oakbrook. Once again, the decision usually comes down to risk vs. reward. Although there may be less competition and thus a higher potential reward in Champaign than in the other cities, the risk of failure in the other cities is lower, therefore Champaign will have to wait. This scenario plays out all the time and is the reason why it will take significant time to fill the current inventory of vacant buildings in our area.

Matt Wavering is a commercial real estate professional with Coldwell Banker Commercial Devonshire Realty and can be reached at 217-352-7712 or mjw@cbcdr.com

I urge the people of Champaign County to Vote “NO” on the Auditor Referendum and then do their homework, raise their level of expectations and elect a qualified Auditor in 2012.

How cool is this?! 

What can we do to stand out?

If you would like to learn more, here are some articles that were published in the News-Gazette this summer:

Ÿ         A Short History of Wilber Heights (timeline)

Ÿ         Neighborhood Hangs on Despite the Odds

Ÿ         Wilber Heights Proves Attractive to Businesses

Ÿ         Zoning Official Seeks Regulatory Changes

For those of you who don’t have the time to read up on the history, I will summarize the issues and the controversy for you.  Wilber Heights was in the middle of a corn field adjacent to Clifford-Jacobs when it was originally developed.  But as the City of Champaign continued to grow north and Market Place Mall was built just west of Wilber Heights, the neighborhood was no longer an island of development in the County.  Therefore, in 1973 the County put a zoning ordinance in place that changed the zoning to industrial, and made residential homes nonconforming.  The ordinance prevents homeowners from making renovations to their properties on more than 10% of the homes’ total square footage.  Effectively, it allows homeowners to make some minor renovations and repairs, but discourages the growth of property values and restricts new construction of residential buildings.

The purpose was to slowly transition the neighborhood from housing to industrial use without forcing homeowners out of their properties.  It was probably a good idea 37 years ago, but I doubt the County board thought the transition would be this slow.  What was once a neighborhood of 120 homes, Wilber Heights is now a strange mix of industrial properties, empty lots, and fewer than 40 homes.  Some of the families in these homes are original residents of the neighborhood and have raised their families there.  I am sure that is a big reason why they have not relocated even though their home sits in the shadows of a forging plant.

I am certainly not one to tell people where to live or what they can or cannot do to their homes, but why someone would want to continue living in an industrial park is a mystery to me.  Some of the residents spoke up when interviewed this summer, and in September, John Hall (Champaign County planning and zoning director) initiated a process to allow residents to make larger renovations than the ordinance currently permits.  I fully support this change as I think any homeowner should be able to make whatever renovation they see fit to their own home.  However, that is where my support for the remaining residents ends.

Some comments from residents of Wilber Heights published this summer in the News-Gazette contend that they are “forgotten” and therefore the County does not provide sufficient maintenance to the roads nor proper traffic regulations.  My answer to that is simple, they are not required to.  The homes are nonconforming and the zoning is industrial, therefore the County should support industrial uses and future development.  The residents argue that the ordinance prevents them from improving their homes so that they can sell them for a reasonable price.  What they are forgetting are the three most important factors in real estate; location, location, and…timing.  The first two factors are rather self-explanatory: I don’t care how nice a home is in Wilber Heights, who wants to live next to a forgery, a warehouse, and a repair shop?  The answer is very few, which is why values in that area will remain low.

So what about the timing factor mentioned above?  The first several homeowners who sold their properties back in the 70’s and 80’s probably did just fine.  But I think that many homeowners thought that they could hold off for better prices in the future.  What they didn’t understand is that industrial property is nowhere near as valuable as the retail property they watched develop to the west.  As a result of their poor timing, much of the neighborhood has transitioned without them, leaving vacant lots, refuge, and metal buildings next to their homes.  Essentially, they missed the bus and are now stuck in a unfavorable situation.

So what is the solution?  As unpopular as it might be to bleeding hearts who feel for the remaining residents of Wilber Heights, I think the right thing is being done.  Nothing.  If people want to continue to live in an industrial park, let it be.  But residents must understand that they are living among industrial businesses; large trucks will travel down their streets, heavy equipment will disturb the peace, and trees will continue to be removed to make way for development.  The Wilber Heights neighborhood is no longer a residential community, it is an area of industrial growth and should be treated that way.

Matt Wavering is a commercial real estate broker at Coldwell Banker Commercial Devonshire Realty.  He can be reached at 217-352-7712 or at mjw@cbcdr.com.

As an appraiser, I try to measure the various risk factors that affect the marketplace. From a theoretical perspective, these are viewed as inflation and deflation, liquidity, management, financial, and market risk. The financial market can definitely drive the real estate marketplace, although while we’ve seen historically low interest rates, both for commercial and residential property, the tight credit has limited the viability of the commercial market.

Troy Doehring is a home inspector with Tech Spec Home Inspection Service, Inc. offering environmental testing for allergens, lead, mold, radon and water. Phone: (217) 398-9796 E-mail: Troy@Techspector.com Website: www.TechSpector.com