Site of defunct former gas station will be repurposed after purchase by Fairbury’s redevelopment authority
FAIRBURY – An old and out-of-service former service station on the side of Highway 136 on the north side of Fairbury will soon be removed and eventually replaced with a new development.
Fairbury’s Community Redevelopment Authority (CRA), a political subdivision of the city itself, announced this month it had entered into a contract to purchase the property that was formerly Petersen Gas and Wash at the intersection of 136 and E Street. Originally opened in 1976, the building changed hands and names a couple of times but has now been dormant for more than a decade.
That’s where a body like the CRA comes into play. Founded in 1999 by the Fairbury City Council, the Community Redevelopment Authority is tasked with identifying areas within the city that need improvements, and then recommending the most efficient ways – both in terms of time and cost – to make those improvement projects possible, most commonly through a pathway called Tax Increment Financing.
The most frequent term the CRA uses to describe these identified properties or wider regions is “blight,” which could signify a building that is physically in bad shape, visually looks unappealing, could present a safety hazard to the community – or in this gas station’s case, all of the above.
“[The site] is in a very visible spot on the highway, and it’s also the entrance to our downtown corridor, so its location within the city is important,” said Laura Bedlan, Fairbury’s development services director. “It’s a valuable lot, again because of its location, so [the CRA] are excited about stepping in, and are hoping to take care of some of the blight in that district to be able to then offer it up for new development.”
Once a site has been determined and then acquired by the CRA, its team will go in and clean out the existing site. It’s then put on the market for purchase by developers who would then come in and establish something new. The process is essentially a site prep for a would-be developer to create something of their own, Bedlan said.
Potential projects the CRA could select must all exist in a region denoted as a “blight district.” This project will be a commercial redevelopment, meaning a new business of some kind will eventually go into the space when the entire process is completed a few years down the road. The CRA is already helping redevelop both residential and commercial sites in Fairbury’s Industrial Park east of K Street.
In their announcement of this acquisition this month, the city of Fairbury emphasized the objective of the project is to reduce the blight that these outdated, dilapidated building present. The message also underscores that the site is being purchased and managed by the independent – yet adjacent – Community Redevelopment Authority, not by the city itself. The full announcement from the city of Fairbury has been reprinted in full below.
Even though the site of this old gas station and car wash has been identified as something that needs to be removed, the process will take some time to fully resolve. Bedlan said the next stage of the operation can be expected to progress sometime this summer, and the city will release more information when it becomes available. Bedlan encourages anyone with questions to reach out to either her office or the CRA, and any developers interested in potentially acquiring this property are welcomed to contact the CRA to begin the process.
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The Fairbury community redevelopment authority (CRA) is excited to announce that it has successfully negotiated the purchase of a commercial property located at the intersection of Highway 136 and E Street. The CRA recognizes the importance of removing blight at this location to assist with redevelopment, potential utility infrastructure improvements and to enhance the overall look of the community. To help with cleanup on this property the CRA is working with the NDEE Brownfield assistance program, and Fairbury City staff. Additionally, the CRA is applying for a Thriving Communities grant to request assistance with redevelopment, planning and site preparation. The CRA will be listing this property for sale in the near future and encourages developers who are interested in this property or any of the other CRA properties to reach out for more information by contacting the Fairbury Community Redevelopment Authority at (402) 300-3016 or contacting the Fairbury Development Services Director, Laura Bedlan at [email protected]
Visit the Fairbury NE economic development webpage at https://www.fairburyne.org/150/Community-Development to learn more about the CRA and how this organization works to enhance the City of Fairbury.