COMMON STRATEGIES USED BY CITIES TO DEAL WITH "UNCOOPERATIVE LANDLORDS"
FINANCING STRATEGIES: The following strategies are used to overcome financial difficulties and disincentives that hinder building development.
1. Tax Incentives: The City currently has powers through the Massachusetts EDIP program to stimulate development through various tax incentives, including tax increment financing (TIF) from the City. The City's Downtown has already been declared as an Economic Opportunity Area (EOA), which makes the area eligible for such incentives. The program could be structured to pre-qualify certain buildings in the Downtown, so that the City offers a certain amount of tax incentive for improvements to certain buildings.
2. Free Parking: The City could offer free parking in the parking garages (for a limited period of time) to the employees of companies that move into vacant buildings.
3. Direct Financing: The City and LDFC already offer a wide variety of incentives for Downtown building owners and tenants of Downtown buildings. The Downtown Venture Fund and the forthcoming Downtown Technology Fund assist in the rehabilitation of Downtown buildings. However, some bad landlords still seem to be disinterested in using these programs in order to tenant their properties.
ENFORCEMENT STRATEGIES: These strategies involve aggressive use City ordinances in order to regulate the upkeep and vacancy rates of Downtown properties. These strategies effectively make poor management of Downtown properties a hassle to the landlord.
1. Aggressive Code Enforcement: The Lowell Historic Board has recently been using this strategy to ratchet up code enforcement on Downtown buildings. However, many properties in Downtown - although vacant - do not have exterior code problems. In addition, many uncooperative landlords in the Downtown do not respond to such pressure.
2. Licensing of Vacant Buildings: The City could create an ordinance to regulate vacant and unoccupied structures. In St. Paul, MN, property owners must register their buildings with the City if the building is unoccupied and:
· Unsecured, or
· Secured by other than normal means, or
· A dangerous structure, or
· Condemned, or
· Has multiple housing or Building Code violations, or
· Is condemned and illegally occupied
In order to comply with this law, property owners must:
· Submit a Vacant Building Registration Form within 30 days, describing plans for rehabilitating and reoccupying or demolishing the building.
· Disclose all pertinent ownership information, all pertinent lien-holders and any other pertinent information.
· Pay an annual Vacant Building Registration fee within 30 days of receiving a letter from the City. (NOTE: If the building is vacant due to a fire, the owners have 90 days to pay the Vacant Building fee, provided they submit the Vacant Building Registration Form within 30 days informing the City of their plans for the building.)
· Provide unencumbered access to all portions of the premises of the buildings to permit Inspectional Services and Fire Department to make a complete inspection.
MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES: These strategies emphasize changing or altering the management structure or ownership of Downtown properties.
1. Joint Marketing of Vacant Properties: Landlords could band together to develop a program to jointly market their vacant properties. This objective could be achieved through a BID or other informal means. Considering the caliper of landlords that have vacant properties in the Downtown, the amount of cooperation in such a strategy is questionable.
2. Purchase Critical Properties: The City, an existing non-profit entity, or new non-profit entity / BID could purchase properties from bad landlords. While private entities might not be able to purchase these properties due to high purchase prices and low profit margins, any of these entities would have the ability to purchase the building with less of a concern for the associated cost.
Send questions and comments to:
Thomas Galligani, Downtown Plan Project Manager
Division of Planning and Development
J.F.K. Civic Center
50 Arcand Drive
Lowell MA 01852
(978) 970-4276
tgalliga@ci.lowell.ma.us
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