Haze of uncertainty blurs contract on Fort Scott downtown project

Fort Scott, Kan. -- The city of Fort Scott has drafted a development agreement with a California-based real estate company to redevelop properties damaged by last year's fire, but uncertainly surrounds the agreement, as well as the relationship between city officials and the chief developer.

City officials said the agreement between Jim Polis, vice president of operations for Polis International, is only a preliminary draft agreement designed to gauge the interests of Polis and his commitment toward the rebuilding effort.

The document was sent to Polis a month ago.

"This is nowhere near a done deal," Fort Scott Economic Development Director Don Russell said.

The agreement doesn't offer specifics about what Polis intends to develop -- only broad generalizations about the city's responsibilities and a set number of days Polis has if both parties sign the agreement.

The relationship between Polis and city officials has led to questions about whether Polis will ultimately end up developing the properties.

Polis introduced himself to the community at a meeting in December with the Mayor's Phoenix Advisory Committee, where he gave a presentation about specific expectations and timelines in his development plans.

Since that time, Polis and city officials have gone back and forth about the efforts to revitalize the area.

On Feb. 21, Polis wrote a letter to city commissioners explaining his displeasure with city officials for not moving quickly enough on reaching a binding agreement.

"After almost eight months working with city staffers to create a downtown lot agreement, we are not any closer to signing a mutually beneficial development agreement," Polis writes. "We have been given one countless excuse after another preventing us from moving forward and receiving the necessary agreement we need to begin."

Fort Scott City Manager Richard Nienstedt said the city "is not dragging its feet" with Polis and that "we're doing what the community expects us to do, and that is to put together an agreement and get some blanks filled in. Our job is to make sure there is a good investment down there, and we are really interested in Mr. Polis, and we hope we can continue to do business with him."

Polis International is a redevelopment real estate holding company based in San Francisco, Calif., that has real estate holdings worldwide.

During the December presentation, Polis told the committee the project will be "community led" and will allocate more than $3 million for the project although the preliminary rebuilding costs are $1.5 million.

He said the company plans to use as much local subject matter expertise as possible to keep money local. Polis also said not only is it paramount that money be kept local but that historical aspects of the renovation be an intricate part of the project, which was the main reason commissioners cited for saving the Miller and Nelson Block buildings.

"Our organization has aggressively marketed Fort Scott's uniqueness and ability to attract visitors to potential tenants," Polis said in the letter. "We have new businesses willing to locate and help with the rediscovery of Fort Scott."

The prospective tenants include: a steak and seafood restaurant, a bookstore, a fitness center, two art galleries and a coffee shop, according to the letter.

The construction project as proposed would be completed in three stages, with three to four buildings in each phase.

The first phase will be the Miller, Nelson, Cotter buildings followed by the Leek, Drake and Edmiston buildings along Main Street.

The third phase will involve properties where the Fort Scott Transfer and Miller Used Furniture buildings on Scott Avenue used to be, according to the presentation made by Polis.

The city anticipates not having a single developer like Polis owning all the properties but rather several developers, preferably local, owning multiple lots, Russell said.

"We have other people out there who are looking at some of those lots, and I think we have to look at what's best for the city on each individual lot -- not just to somebody who has got the money to build all of it."

Polis said in a telephone interview he liked what he saw when reviewing the agreement; however, he has not yet returned the agreement to the city.

If he does sign it, the city will still have to iron out multiple issues, such as stipulations from the federal government.

At this point, Russell said, the city is not ready to sign the document.

He said the city has not received money from the Urgent Need Grant that will go toward cleaning up and rebuilding infrastructures in the fire-affected area. The city is expecting the money at any time, Russell said.

Since the money is coming from the government, it comes with certain stipulations the city must follow concerning design and construction repairs on infrastructure such as utilities and sidewalks.

And the city doesn't know specifically what those restrictions will be, Russell said.

"We're trying to find out exactly what it is we can do and when we can do it -- so it's not just like we can say 'here's the land, go ahead,'" Nienstedt said, in explaining why Polis might feel the city is avoiding commitment.

Russell said, "We are trying to make sure, whether it's Mr. Polis or anybody else, that they've touched all the bases, and where we are right now, we're not a bit sure that's been done."