Pioneer Ford Request for Proposal

Pioneer Ford Request for Proposal

December 30, 2015

In early December, 45 residents participated in a visioning session for the Pioneer Ford site. Participants at the session worked in groups to brainstorm answers to the following questions:

• What types of features would help establish this site as a gateway to downtown?
• What types of uses should be considered for the site?
• What don’t we want to see on this site?

Following the fundamental rules of brainstorming (every idea should be listed without judgement), long lists were generated with respect to each question. Then participants exercised “dot-macracy” (voting with sticky dots) by placing dots next to the four ideas for each question that were most important to them.

The desires expressed in the session for the site were summarized in the Request for

Proposal (RFP) as follows:

• Serve as a Gateway: The project uses architectural and art elements to signify arrival and invite people into the downtown area.

• Be Smart with Parking: The project takes advantage of topography to maximize and hide parking. Consider uses that make shared parking possible.

• Include Multi-story/Multi-use  Buildings: The project combines retail, office and/or housing uses. All three are prominent in the downtown area.

• Compliment Platteville’s Historic Downtown: The project’s building facade and site design compliment the historic nature of the downtown area.

• Connect to the Outdoors and Street: The project provides pedestrian-friendly features and green spaces in the site design; possibly through the use of outdoor gathering spaces such as a splash pad, sculpture garden, water feature and/or outdoor dining.

• Grow the Tax-Base: The project improves the City’s tax base in the downtown district.

Although it is not a requirement that the proposals meet all of these suggestions, the results of the visioning will be used as a guide for evaluating the proposals.  The City will look at the proposed use of the property, the impact on the neighborhood, and the overall benefits to the community when evaluating the development proposals.

Responses to the RFP are due April 8. A review committee established by the City Council will review the proposals and make a recommendation to the City Council. If all goes well, that will most likely happen in May or early June. City-staff have been contacting developers throughout the state to make them aware of the opportunity. In the meantime, staff will be soliciting proposals to demolish the buildings on the site later this spring.

The Pioneer Ford RFP and all of the results from the community visioning session can be found on the City’s website at: www.platteville.org.