For the past 20 years, the Heart of Hastings plan has been kind of the guiding plan for the area. While it still has relevance today, we’re looking to take that and update it.”

Alex Menke, Hastings Economic Development Coordinator

With two high profile developments providing new “bookends” to downtown Hastings, the Hastings Economic Development and Redevelopment Authority (HEDRA) wants to keep the ball rolling.

HEDRA heard a plan at its meeting Thursday, Oct. 12 about planning for the future of the downtown area. Also in the works is planning for the Hwy. 55/Jacob Avenue area, just west of the current city limits where there is the possibility of residential and commercial development in the future.

The two downtown “bookends” referred to are The Confluence development on the west side of downtown and Lake Isabel Flats, the 89-unit market rate apartment building at Third and Bailey Streets on the east side of downtown. Information at the HEDRA meeting stated, “Existing framing is complete, and work is commencing on interior units for the 89-unit apartment building at 3rd and Bailey. A spring 2024 opening is anticipated.”

The building is being developed by the Stencil Group.

Hastings Economic Development Coordinator Alex Menke told commissioners it’s time to revisit what he called a “downtown small area plan.”

“With the opening of The Confluence and Lake Isabel Flats, that’s two major kind of bookend developments in the downtown area, and those are going to have major impacts to the kind of environment downtown,” he said. “For the past 20 years, the Heart of Hastings plan has been kind of the guiding plan for the area. While it still has relevance today, we’re looking to take that and update it.”

The plan would be to contract with a consulting firm to put together the plan “most likely probably within 2025,” said Menke. “We want to give Lake Isabel Flats and The Confluence time to stabilize and see what kind of impacts that they do bring to downtown before we do engage with the full small area planning process.”

Staff will be putting together an inventory of businesses downtown “to get an in depth understanding of what are the buildings, what are the square footages, amenities of each building and who owns them and what business are in them so that we can paint an accurate and up-to-date picture of what the kind of business ecosystem is for downtown,” said Menke.

That should point out what downtown needs in terms of future businesses.

“Having more housing introduced that may introduce different needs than are currently provided downtown, especially thinking of grocery, pharmacy or more morning things for people heading out to work, like breakfast items, things like that,” said Menke. “This inventory will give us a good idea of what we have and maybe what gaps could be filled when other buildings may come vacant or if there’s redevelopment opportunities.”

In the Hwy. 55/Jacobs Avenue area, Menke said the city has had dialog with a property owner.

“(Community Development Director John Hinzman) John and I spoke with one of the property owners out there a few months back, and we’re just inquiring of what their plans are for their property, and the individual actually asked for more of a vision for the area from the city. That’s kind of what we’re going to do,” said Menke, with a small area plan for that land.

He said the city first will reach out to the non-profit Urban Land Institute to see if that area would be a good candidate for review under one of their programs termed Navigating Your Competitive Future.

“It provides a small WOT analysis – strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats – to give us an understanding of what’s in the area, what might developers be looking to put in that area, being able to see that and mesh that with the needs of the city. Putting that with the small area plan would give us a really solid plan to point to for future developers and existing landowners to say this is what the city’s vision is, this is what the buy-in from the community is. Take these to the developers and say, if you want to build here, this is what we’re looking for,” said Menke.

The Hastings city limits currently end with the commercial developments on Hwy. 55, so a developer would have to take the initiative to have the land annexed to the city from Ninninger Township. Hinzman said the city is currently doing a study of sewer capacity in the area.

“We’re really looking at it in a way that we can be proactive and guide the development of that area in the future,” said Hinzman. “Our vision for that area has been that Jacob Avenue would one day serve as a collector road north-south sort of like a General Sieben or a Pleasant Drive.”