NOMAR INTERNATIONAL MARKET

Group must raise up to $865,000 for market's development costs
BY CHRISTINA M. WOODS

A nonprofit group charged with creating a north Wichita public market featuring custom ethnic goods will have to raise between $545,000 and $865,000 to cover roughly one-third of its development costs, according to a new feasibility study. The city has said it will spend $1.3 million from its capital improvement fund to develop the Nomar International Public Market, according to the study. The total cost is estimated at $1.85 million to $2.17 million, including land, demolition and construction.

The preferred site is at the northwest corner of 21st and Broadway.

The city would own the market and lease it to the West 21st Street Community Development Corp. for a nominal fee, according to the study.

"The CDC's the one who's in the forefront now," said Dave Barber, the city's advance plans manager.

The development corporation plans to collaborate with other community organizations -- the Wichita Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, the 21st Street Business Association and El Pueblo Neighborhood Association -- to create a fundraising campaign and implement the plan.

Funding scenarios could include creating a tax increment financing -- or TIF -- district, which would divert increased property tax from the development to pay for improvements in the project area. Federal grants could also cover some development costs.

"We are excited about getting to this point," said Joey DeLeon, president of the community development corporation. "Getting through the feasibility study, itself, has been a long process."

The market

The study, finalized in mid-November, detailed a 26,000-square-foot market featuring up to 88 vendors and several plaza spaces, including an indoor food court at the northwest corner of 21st and Broadway. It requires a realignment of Market Street north of 21st, shifting it to the west and changing its north-bound angle for more development space. An on-site parking lot would come from purchasing adjacent property.

Other scenarios include renovating an existing Disabled American Veterans building one-half block south of 21st on the east side of Market.

The Nomar market, according to the study, would feature an indoor hall with local vendors selling fine art, handicrafts, baked goods, prepared food and ethnic specialty items. Locally grown, specialty and organic products would be featured in an outdoor farmers market. Festivals and performing artists could take advantage of the market's plaza spaces.

Exterior walls would be made of glass and stucco. Three primary building entries would reflect Spanish revival architecture similar to the historic Nomar Theater's architecture.

Tenants and rent

The market is a key component of the city's plans to redevelop 21st Street from Hillside to Amidon. That plan, approved by the City Council in 2004, could cost up to $228 million.

Developing plans for the Nomar International Public Market has cost the city roughly $400,000 in consultant-led studies over the past three years.

The city paid Economics Research Associates $34,970 and Law/Kingdon $50,000 to complete this latest study.

The overall revitalization effort looks to build upon the area's cultural identity.

The study, for example, identified 84 businesses in the West 21st Street corridor, from Broadway to Arkansas. The corridor, according to the study, generated nearly $1.35 million in sales taxes in 2006.

Consultants suggest the Nomar market feature a tenant mix including 11 prepared and specialty food vendors, such as cafes and bakeries; seven produce, meat or cheese vendors; eight apparel and accessory vendors; 15 arts, jewelry, gifts or flower vendors and 27 farmers market vendors.

Consultants emphasized the need for affordable rent to prevent current business owners in the area from being displaced.

The study found that the business owners in the area pay about $5 per square foot annually. The proposed market rent ranges from $15 to $24 per square foot annually depending on the type of establishment. Restaurants, for example, would pay the higher-end rent. Day vendors would be charged $25 per stall per day.

Ron Cruz, president of the 21st Street Business Association, said his organization would be looking deeper into how consultants figured the rent structure.

"The rent was a surprise to a lot of us," Cruz said, adding, "we need to keep the rent down. We know that."

The study projects that the market would operate at a shortfall for three years, due in large part to the rent structure. The shortfall is expected to decrease from $62,000 its the first year to $31,000 in its second to $6,000 in its third year.

The market's fourth year could show a profit of $26,000, according to the feasibility study.

"In the past, we've looked at deficits that were a lot more than that," DeLeon said, crediting the extra time and effort it took creating a more solid plan.

'A cultural destination'

Carmen Rosales, owner of Connie's Mexico Cafe north of the preferred site on Broadway, said she still has many questions about the project, including the rent structure. She's unsure whether she would want to move to the market; she has emotional ties to the 1913 building where her family-run restaurant has operated since the 1960s.

"I feel like this location, this building is very sentimental," Rosales said. "It's very special. It's very dear. It's very old, and I don't know where I'm going to fit in."

Alejandro Calderon, president of El Pueblo Neighborhood Association, said he thinks the plan is fairly good, but also wants it to include community-building organizations such as those that serve teenagers.

"If it's one big flea market in the middle of the north end, that's not something I'm really impressed by," Calderon said. "I'd rather see something that the community's going to be using and that actually gives back to the community."

DeLeon, however, has no concerns with the proposal for the market.

"We think this is going to be a great asset for the community and when I say community, I mean the community as a whole," he said. "Wichita will benefit from having something like this."

"It's a cultural destination we don't have right now."

Reach Christina M. Woods at 316-269-6791 or cwoods@wichitaeagle.com.