In the last several years, a Franklin organization has spent more than $7 million on projects to improve the look of homes and businesses in and around downtown.
That work is continuing, and Franklin Development Corp. officials have a new set of goals for the next few years, including getting long vacant and ignored homes back on the tax rolls and continuing to redevelop downtown buildings.
Before that work can be done, the organization needs more funding.
Earlier this month, the group requested another $500,000 in funding from the Franklin Redevelopment Commission, a city board that is in charge of spending property tax dollars collected in the city’s tax-increment financing, or TIF, districts. That city board has provided the funding to the Franklin Development Corp. in the past for its other projects.
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Click here to purchase photos from this galleryThe money will go to continuing some of the organization’s most popular programs, including redoing the facades of downtown business buildings, and loans for repairs to homes and commercial properties. The group also wants to continue a program where they have gotten abandoned properties from the county tax sale, had the back taxes and liens forgiven and then work to get those properties sold and redeveloped so taxes will be paid again, said Jeff Mercer, a Franklin Development Corp. board member. Their goal is to get three to six properties per year, he said.
But the board is also looking at other programs that could be started, Mercer said.
The issue will be investing in projects that are needed in the city, he said.
For example, if the organization’s residential loan program, which funds repairs to homes around downtown, isn’t being used, then officials need to look at dedicating the money toward other programs, he said. One idea they have discussed: a residential paint program, where the organization buys paint for homeowners to paint the outside of their homes, Mercer said.
Also on the list is helping fund a co-working space in the downtown area where entrepreneurs and start-up businesses can rent office space and have access to a conference room and other amenities for a lower price than typical office space. The idea is one former Mayor Joe McGuinness had wanted to get started, and several other nonprofits and agencies, such as the Franklin Chamber of Commerce, Franklin College and Franklin schools, have expressed interest in being involved.
That project was put on hold temporarily to make sure the new mayor would want to still participate, Mercer said. The next steps will be to set up the structure and find a location, he said.
Other projects being considered are: expanding local art programs and rehabilitating the second and third floors of downtown business buildings so they can be used as potential apartments or offices. But so far, those programs have only been discussed as ideas, and no steps have been taken to move them forward, he said.
Their overall goal is to advance downtown, Mercer said.
Leaders point to several success stories, including the former antique mall building on Jefferson Street, the Jefferson Street Pub building, the building that houses Triple Play BBQ and Ann’s Restaurant, which all received funding to fix up the fronts of their buildings. The Hazelett building, which houses the Daily Journal, was also a project the Franklin Development Corp. helped fund.
“Drive around downtown, you can see so many changes, success stories, and the energy generated from it,” Mercer said.
