The news of UNT’s interest in acquiring the Sack ‘n Save at the corner of Ave C and I35 was met with a variety of concerns, some legitimate and some quite odd. Leave it to Denton to fight for the survival of an unattractive, 1970s-looking suburban-style grocery store in the name of “preserving Denton’s history and culture.”
But perhaps the real concerning aspect of this news was its timing, given the pending discussion of a possible city-owned Convention Center just across the highway. I’ve written extensively about the Convention Center. I’ve defending the project from detractors claiming the deal was made behind closed doors. I went out on a political limb to argue against putting the project before a city-wide vote. And I provided an economic analysis of the project that at once criticized the typical economic arguments and provided suggestions for new ways of thinking about its economic development possibilities.
In that article, two of the questions I threw out were seemingly soft balls right down the center of the plate for officials at the University of North Texas:
- How might the presence of this project spur significant redevelopment of the area directly across the highway? The entire area North to Eagle Drive, East to Carroll and West to Bonnie Brae is arguably ripe for major reinvestment and redevelopment. Are there related plans for this and how can this be added to the equation?
- What’s the economic impact of a major research institution to the city? Beyond its role as a major employer, how can it be leveraged to make Denton a hotbed of entrepreneurial activity and research-based business incubators? What, if any, impact does a Convention Center have on this?
I was hoping these questions would provide an opportunity for UNT to come to the table and help make the case publicly – after all, they are one of the major partners in this entire deal. Not only did UNT not come out to make the case, they go public IN THE MIDDLE OF FRAGILE COMMUNITY DISCUSSIONS on this project with their plans to acquire Sack ‘n Save and turn it into university property, using eminent domain if needed.
This is very important and in my mind threatens the very viability of the Convention Center project at that location. Here’s why…
The proposed location certainly benefits from the proximity to a major research university. The Denton community and UNT benefit from the potential redevelopment of the area between UNT and I35 – redevelopment that a high-end hotel and convention center could spark. But consider the following map:
UNT’s move to acquire Sack ‘n Save and, their comfort with using eminent domain to acquire it, signal that the university is not interested in collaborating with the community to develop this area, but rather to acquire it for the purpose of extending the university’s own borders all the way to I35. That does two things: 1) it takes away the redevelopment possibilities that such a project could spark along I35; and 2) it means that the hotel and city-owned convention center would be, for all intents and purposes, right in the middle of the campus of UNT.
And this is exactly what the 2013 UNT Master Plan envisions. In the lower right hand corner of the following proposed UNT map, you’ll see the area to the East and West of Ave C all the way to I35 redeveloped as UNT property:
And this is fine – it makes sense for the university to want to expand in this way. It just raises questions about whether or not the city needs to put a convention center in the middle of all this.
During the last council meeting as we struggled to find a financially feasible path for the project, I concluded my remarks with a challenge to UNT, as one of the three major partners in the deal, to reconsider increasing their own contribution to the project in order to make the deal work.
I haven’t yet heard any changes from them in this regard. Instead we get the news of Sack ‘n Save. We need to hear more from UNT if this project is to remain viable.