Coeur d'Alene on Steroids

The City's Pulse Issue #2 March 2007 by Mary Souza
Coeur d’Alene on Steroids Have you noticed all those huge buildings going up downtown? And down by the river? And up Northwest Blvd? Everywhere you look you see cranes and trucks and construction crews! Most of this growth is being funded by your tax dollars through the local urban renewal agency called Lake City Development Corporation, or LCDC for short. Urban renewal is used all over Idaho and across the country to help blighted, depressed areas of cities. It can make good economic sense to help development come into areas that would not be improved otherwise. It can bring new life to run-down neighborhoods by offering incentives to build stores, cafes or apartment buildings. Old, unused mill sites along the river that may need costly site work and removal of pilings before any development can be started, would probably qualify as areas that need urban renewal help. Urban renewal can also be used to attract sustainable industry, and with it bring quality jobs. That’s how Post Falls got Harpers, now called Flexcel. That’s how Twin Falls got a Dell support center. These are solid, long-term jobs that pay a livable wage with benefits. Coeur d’Alene established its urban renewal agency in 1997. At that time, downtown CdA was looking for a shot in the arm. Downtown business was too often just seasonal for the summer. Buildings like the Elks were standing empty, with broken windows and sagging roofs. The City figured that urban renewal, via the LCDC, would be a good tool to help revitalize downtown. It can be argued that the end result has been a good one. Ten years later, Coeur d'Alene's downtown is thriving. Yet the LCDC still exists, and for what purpose? The answer is hard to swallow. These days, it seems like every developer in town is lining up to get urban renewal tax dollars -- gifts and loans -- from LCDC. There’s nary a building project anywhere without some LCDC lubrication to turn the gears. It’s a veritable gravy train! Imagine: tax dollars have been used for a decorative waterfall, a wrought-iron fence, a brick facade, landscaping, awnings, and the list goes on and on. But that doesn’t begin to tell the real story. LCDC is more involved and more influential than ever. Their budget is growing at a phenomenal rate; the more large buildings, the higher the property values, the more tax increment money flows back to LCDC. So many questions remain about LCDC and its purpose, as well as its impact on our taxes. Are the new huge buildings and luxury condominiums going up in areas that would not be improved otherwise? Do they need our tax dollars to help attract builders and developers to Coeur d’Alene? And why does the old Elks building still sit empty, broken windows, saggy roof and all? It’s probably the most blighted building in downtown. But just across the corner, our tax dollars are paying for the faux brick siding on a tall, boxy new condo building. Stay tuned.

Coeur d’Alene on Steroids

Have you noticed all those huge buildings going up downtown? And down by the river? And up Northwest Blvd? Everywhere you look you see cranes and trucks and construction crews! Most of this growth is being funded by your tax dollars through the local urban renewal agency called Lake City Development Corporation, or LCDC for short.

Urban renewal is used all over Idaho and across the country to help blighted, depressed areas of cities. It can make good economic sense to help development come into areas that would not be improved otherwise. It can bring new life to run-down neighborhoods by offering incentives to build stores, cafes or apartment buildings. Old, unused mill sites along the river that may need costly site work and removal of pilings before any development can be started, would probably qualify as areas that need urban renewal help.

Urban renewal can also be used to attract sustainable industry, and with it bring quality jobs. That’s how Post Falls got Harpers, now called Flexcel. That’s how Twin Falls got a Dell support center. These are solid, long-term jobs that pay a livable wage with benefits.

Coeur d’Alene established its urban renewal agency in 1997. At that time, downtown CdA was looking for a shot in the arm. Downtown business was too often just seasonal for the summer. Buildings like the Elks were standing empty, with broken windows and sagging roofs. The City figured that urban renewal, via the LCDC, would be a good tool to help revitalize downtown.

It can be argued that the end result has been a good one. Ten years later, Coeur d'Alene's downtown is thriving. Yet the LCDC still exists, and for what purpose? The answer is hard to swallow.

These days, it seems like every developer in town is lining up to get urban renewal tax dollars -- gifts and loans -- from LCDC. There’s nary a building project anywhere without some LCDC lubrication to turn the gears. It’s a veritable gravy train! Imagine: tax dollars have been used for a decorative waterfall, a wrought-iron fence, a brick facade, landscaping, awnings, and the list goes on and on. But that doesn’t begin to tell the real story.

LCDC is more involved and more influential than ever. Their budget is growing at a phenomenal rate; the more large buildings, the higher the property values, the more tax increment money flows back to LCDC.

So many questions remain about LCDC and its purpose, as well as its impact on our taxes. Are the new huge buildings and luxury condominiums going up in areas that would not be improved otherwise? Do they need our tax dollars to help attract builders and developers to Coeur d’Alene? And why does the old Elks building still sit empty, broken windows, saggy roof and all? It’s probably the most blighted building in downtown. But just across the corner, our tax dollars are paying for the faux brick siding on a tall, boxy new condo building. Stay tuned.