Consultant: Union Depot a 'tremendous opportunity'
Oct. 2—A consultant who conducted studies of the Union Depot said Monday night the building is a "tremendous opportunity" that might be best suited for a brew pub attraction.
Joe Borgstrom, from Place+Main Advisers of East Lansing, Michigan, previewed at a Joplin City Council meeting some of the findings of a market feasibility study and market analysis he and his firm performed. The studies are to be used as a marketing tool for the effort to sell the historic structure and spur its redevelopment.
Borgstrom said he had only a few minutes to give a brief overview of his reports at the meeting. He will go into more detail Tuesday at an 11 a.m. public meeting where he is to discuss the full reports. That meeting will be held in the performance hall of the Harry M. Cornell Arts & Entertainment Complex, 212 W. Seventh St.
"First of all, I have to say this a remarkable structure," Borgstrom said. "I have had the good fortune of working with communities all over the country. I've worked with many different types of structures in downtowns across our great country, and this is really a phenomenal building. It's a tremendous opportunity."
The first step in putting together a picture of the building's potential was to determine who was coming downtown. Geofencing was used to provide a snapshot of those visitors. That involves use of cellphone data that does not identify specific people but captures ZIP codes of the neighborhoods of those who come into downtown.
"We use that information to help us understand what we call the primary and secondary trade areas for downtown," he said. "That really gives us an understanding of the demographics of the growth that is occurring here. In the city of Joplin, you have a growing population and growing households, which are positive things for the renovation of the depot and downtown in general."
The consultant also looked at what exists already in retail supply and demand downtown and projected that out five years.
"We were kind of able to get an idea of what uses could be, not only for the depot but the downtown generally," he said.
Information from prior public meetings conducted by students and faculty from two universities were incorporated in the conclusions of Borgstrom's firm.
In June, the Downtown Joplin Alliance and universities discussed their concepts, concluding that the depot could be the future home of a transportation museum with food and beverage offerings along with restored railroad cars for lodging and connecting trails with bicycle rentals.
Those reports were sought by the Downtown Joplin Alliance through its Endangered Properties Program. The group is working with the depot's owner, the Missouri Department of Natural Resources, to try to find a buyer/developer for the property. The building is listed for sale through a local property development and real estate company, the Glenn Group.
"We do think the redevelopment is feasible," Borgstrom said. "There may be need for incentives, primarily historic tax credits."
As for its use, Borgstrom said his firm saw "the big draw would be an idea around a brew pub. We think there is draw for that."
Councilman Josh DeTar asked if there was a cost estimate for a project like that. Borgstrom said it could be $6 million to $6.5 million while others had estimates of up to $10 million. That might not be known until the details of the restoration and purpose of the building were firm.
Councilman Phil Stinnett asked if Borgstrom could disclose the origins of visitors who come downtown.
Borgstrom said there is a reach for people from all over Midwest, especially Arkansas, Kansas and Oklahoma. But the main draw is the greater Joplin area, mostly Southwest Missouri and into Northeast Oklahoma.
