Civil Municipal - Feb 2024

When St. Charles decided to create the park off of I-90, Gastner shares that city officials were concerned that it might create a perception of wanting to pull downtown businesses to the new site. “We had to be deliberate about not doing that,” he states. “So, in addition to the development of the business park, we also created a commercial rehabilitation program to help those existing building owners in our downtown core and along that Hwy. 14 corridor, with building improvements.We wanted to keep our downtown core very strong; we have some beautiful historic buildings that give it a very unique look and we wanted to keep people reinvesting in that area and keep that section of our business community thriving, as well.” “We saw some other communities tear down some of their older buildings, which may be great for development, but in St. Charles, we’ve always wanted to maintain the classic look of our downtown core. Our goal was to help the building owners reinvest in their buildings and make improvements to them so that we could keep the original look of the downtown and yet make those buildings more efficient and more economical.. And I think we’ve been very successful in doing that.” Originally, the city offered one-to-one matching grants of up to $10,000 for commercial rehabilitation projects. It has subsequently reduced those grants to $5,000, to increase the number of recipients. “Ultimately, in rehab projects, five or ten thousand dollars isn’t a ton of money,” Gastner admits. “Even if it’s a small piece of the puzzle, and it incentivizes the building owners to continue to make improvements to their buildings, it’s worth it. Over the years, we’ve seen more than a six-to-one investment based on the funds that we put in; the private side has come in over sixfold! We’ve seen over a million dollars of reinvestment into that core, which I think is amazing.” ST. CHARLES M I N N E S O T A WWW. S T C H A R L E S MN . O R G St. Charles is centrally located 20 miles east of Rochester and 20 miles west of Winona directly on Interstate 90 and Minnesota Highway 14. Our vibrant main street, small town charm, and scenic residential subdivisions make St. Charles a fantastic place to live, work and do business. With shovel-ready lots immediately available, we are primed for your commercial and industrial business needs. The location allows our community to offer big city conveniences with the advantages of small-town living. Best known for being the Gateway to the Whitewater Valley, St. Charles is a vibrant community of 3,990 people comfortably nestled within the rolling hills and valleys of southeastern Minnesota. Whether you decide to move here, open your business or just plan to visit, we welcome you to St. Charles and hope your stay is filled with many fond memories! Contact us at (507)-932-3020 or check out our website at www.stcharlesmn.org 82 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL VOLUME 5, ISSUE 02