22-Rawleigh Complex Existing Bldgs and Uses(11.25.14)

ABOUT THE COMPLEX

Page Index:

HistoryRedevelopment ProgressThe BuildingsComplex Redevelopment Status

History

The City Freeport has a long and prosperous history of innovation and manufacturing.Despite the modest size of its population, currently 25,600 and never larger than 30,000,its strategic location along the former Illinois Central Railroad made it a center ofcommerce in the state line region starting in the 1850’s, continuing through today. Overthat time, a number of entrepreneurs and industrialists called Freeport home and built aplethora of powerful businesses that produced everything from presidential limousinesfor the Truman administration, to windmills that supplied power to farms throughout thecountry, to high-tech switches used in everything from home thermostats to NASA

Rawleigh ComplexRedevelopment

A new vision of activity, entrepreneurial thinking and economic growth

spacecraft. Although the shift to interstate highway transportation from rail over the latter part of the last centurytapered Freeport’s growth, the past economic activity and affluence have left the community with a wealth of historicstructures in the central business district that are readily adaptable for a wide variety of new uses. With the coming re-introduction of Amtrak service connecting Freeport to Chicago and Dubuque, the community now has an enormousopportunity to acquaint a whole new generation of entrepreneurs with the City’s favorable business climate,dependable workforce, and magnificent downtown buildings.

A major focal point of the City’s downtown and riverfront revitalization efforts is the repurposing of the 460,000 squarefoot, former Rawleigh complex. The W.T. Rawleigh Company had a major presence in Freeport’s downtown beginning inthe early 1900s producing everything from medical products to spices, inks, shampoos, and cleaning supplies. Rawleighdistributed these products nationwide through a door-to-door “Rawleigh Men” sales network. The advent of big boxstores and general economic struggles led the company to file for bankruptcy in the 1980s leaving what was once acelebrated icon of prosperity to quickly become a vacant set of buildings posing significant environmental and financialchallenges to rehabilitation.

RRedevelopment Progress

Over the past 20 years the City has put a number of programs in place to attract new businesses and revitalize thedowntown. This includes the creation of a public-private economic development corporation, establishment of a TaxIncrement Finance district, and implementation of a nationally-recognized Brownfields program that has attractedmore than $8 million in state and federal grants. In particular, the City has been actively removing environmentalhazards and facilitating reuse of the Rawleigh into a dynamic mixed-use development planned to include a new Amtrakstation, light industrial and flexible business space, a restaurant, and housing. To date, two of the five buildings havebeen sold to private developers: Building A (Office Building) is occupied and the developer of Building D has securedtenants for the first two floors. The City has secured funding to design the multi-modal Station at a third building,Building E.

The Buildings

The Rawleigh Complex consists of five buildings, developed between 1904 and 1956, allof which have concrete and steel construction, open floor plates and brick interior andexterior walls. The buildings are connected to each other by a series of overheadwalkways on multiple levels. Previous uses in the buildings consisted of lightmanufacturing, assembly, packaging, warehousing and offices. Each building has its ownarchitectural detailing reminiscent of the period in which it was built while the commonuse of red brick presents an impressive and consistent appearance throughout thedevelopment.

After the Rawleigh company closed, some of the buildings were leased for warehousing for a short period of time beforethe property was completely abandoned in 1988. In the mid-1990s, two local boys entered some of the buildings,gathered thermostats and thermometers, and contaminated themselves and their homes with dangerous levels ofmercury. This triggered a U.S. EPA emergency response to remove mercury at the Complex and the boys’ homes. Thisincident heightened the City’s awareness of brownfield issues and triggered its involvement in actively facilitatingbrownfields cleanup and redevelopment in the City. Since 1999, the City has leveraged more than $4.6 million in stateand federal grant funding and technical assistance to gain control of the property, conduct environmental assessment,and clean up contamination. In 2013, the City was issued a final “No Further Remediation” letter from the Illinois

Environmental Protection Agency for the entire Complex. The only remaining hazardous conditions are the presence oflead paint and limited amounts of asbestos above the first two floors, both of which can be addressed as part of therenovations.

In addition to the five buildings, the Rawleigh Complex also consists of two parking lots on the south side of SpringStreet and some small open areas on the east and west sides of the buildings. Running in between the buildings isLiberty Street and an east-west alley which is no longer used for vehicular traffic. The Complex was rezoned in 2013 to aunique district created specifically for the Complex that allows a wide range of uses, and the entire property wasreplatted in 2014 to create a separate lot for each building. For a full Master Plan of the site click here (link to MasterPlan graphic). The Complex is located in the Downtown Tax Increment Finance District and the Downtown HistoricDistrict with all of the buildings (with the exception of Building A) begin designated as “contributing” to the historiccharacter of the area. This designation enables project developers to pursue listing individual buildings on the nationalregister of historic places in order to secure federal historic preservation tax credits to greatly reduce redevelopmentcosts. State tax credits for historic preservation are currently under consideration by the Illinois state legislature.

CCOMPLEX REDEVELOPMENT STATUS

Building A: OracleDevelopment – OfficeBuilding

This building is the newest inthe Complex, built around1950, and containsapproximately 36,000 squarefeet on three levels. Theproperty was purchased byOracle Development andredeveloped into aprofessional office buildingin the late 1990s. Anengineering firm occupiesthe lower two levels with thethird floor available forimmediate buildout andoccupancy.

Building B: City-owned –Vacant FormerOffice/Warehouse/Assembly

This highly ornate building housed a number of Rawleigh’s operations including everything from office space, towarehousing, to manufacturing and assembly. The building has 6 full floors consisting of 100,800 square feet includinga three-story penthouse. The building is currently vacant and lacks utility connections requiring initial re-occupancy toinclude at least two full floors (about 33,600 sq. ft.) in order to make rehabilitation cost effective. Uses targeted for thebuilding include artist live/work lofts, art studios and performance space, retail and restaurant space. The City iscertainly interested in any inquiries and offers for the property but is currently focusing its efforts on redevelopingBuilding E. However, there are several short term uses that could be financially viable as described here (link to shortterm uses- BldgE file).

BBuilding C: City-owned – Vacant Former Powerhouse

The Powerhouse was a coal-burning plant that originally heated and powered the entire complex. As part of theproperty environmental remediation efforts, most of the equipment has been removed leaving an open 7,100 sq. ft.space with dramatic ceiling heights and a wall of glass that brings in lots of natural light. The building is ideally suitedfor a restaurant, brewpub (link to brewpub page), music venue, or some combination of all of these. Further, the highceilings would allow a mezzanine to be constructed that could add to the square footage as shown here. Thefoundation and walls are structurally sound but the roof is in need of a complete replacement requiring the entire spaceto be redeveloped and occupied at one time in order to make the renovations financially viable.

Building D: Alber Properties – Multi-Tenant Office/Industrial/Warehouse

The City sold this property to a local businessman in early 2014 to serve as the new headquarters for his company,Protocutter, a precision cutting tool manufacturer. In addition, the property houses additional warehousing, repair,light assembly and office tenants. Currently, two of the six floor have been completed renovated, with renovations ofthe third floor slated to begin in early 2015. Each floor is approximately 18,000 sq. ft. and can be easily divided into twoto four tenant spaces. Given the excellent views to the Pecatonica River to the east, the building owner believes theupper floors would make excellent office space for tech companies and/or a top floor restaurant or bar that would alsohave roof access.

Building E: Freeport Station

Freeport Station will be a multi-modal hub serving as a regional Amtrak station, a trailhead for the Pecatonica-PrairiePath and Jane Adams bike trails which converge just north of the site, and the primary transfer point for the City’stransit service including the transit offices, dispatch center and service facility. The City has been awarded a $500,000grant to prepare architectural and engineering designs for the facility in 2015 and anticipates securing state and federalconstruction funding in order to begin construction in 2016/2017. Restored Amtrak service between Chicago andRockford will begin in late 2015. The City is working with the state to plan a schedule for moving forward with theneeded rail improvements to then extend Amtrak service from Rockford to Dubuque, via Freeport, as soon as possible.

At the time it was built, Building E was the largest, single-purpose warehouse in the world. The concrete, brick and steelconstruction of all eight floors is as structurally sound as ever, and the exterior metal-cladding will be removed as partof the Freeport Station development exposing an impressive and historic brick façade that is visible from every cornerof the downtown and beyond. Freeport Station and related office, retail and dining uses will comprise the entire firstfloor. The City intends to seek a master developer for other floors in the building but is open to discussions withprospective tenants interested in all or most of the 133,600 square feet. Uses envisioned in the building are those thatwould complement and benefit from the activity and users of Freeport Station including offices, business enterprisecenter, and apartments. For more details on Freeport Station, visit www.freeportstation.us .

A vibrant, creative hub for living, working, dining, shopping, and connecting to the region.

PROJECT GOALS

Repurposing a Symbol of Community Heritage.

Sparking Change.

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Arts Live-Work Lofts

Arts Studio / Performance / Instructional / Retail Spaces

Market-Rate Housing

General Retail and Service Uses

Freeport Multi-Modal Station

Bike and Outdoor Recreation Shop

Business and Entrepreneurial Space

Food Business Accelerator and Public Market

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