Renovation of a municipal facility in Hagerstown, Maryland. Working plans call for the renovation of a municipal facility.

The City of Hagerstown's Department of Community and Economic Development is seeking proposals from developers who are interested in participating in a Community Legacy-assisted program to provide matching funds for developers to adapt vacant or under-utilized upper floors for market rate housing. Building and Facility Construction and Maintenance Services RFP documents can be found here electronically. All inquiries should be directed, in writing to Tyler French (Procurement Administrator) at tfrench@hagerstownmd.or The City of Hagerstown reserves the right to accept proposals individually or collectively, to accept or reject any or all proposals, waive any informalities, and take whatever action is to the best interest of the City of Hagerstown. Written responses will be prepared as an addendum to the RFP and distributed to all applicants in advance of the submittal deadline. A major emphasis of Hagerstown's Sustainable Community Plan is supporting housing diversity, improving the quality of the Downtown housing stock, and increasing market-rate housing. The downtown housing market is currently over-balanced by large housing facilities which are subsidized for low-income, special needs households. The creation of quality upper floor housing attractive to students, young professionals and empty nesters is critical to changing the market conditions of Downtown Hagerstown. Without these new residents, it will remain difficult to recruit and retain retail and for restaurants and cultural events to flourish downtown. In recent years, the City and the State have worked together to support expansion of educational and cultural facilities downtown. We have partnered with developers to create student housing units to support the University System of Maryland Center at Hagerstown and to work towards this goal of bringing new residents downtown with disposable income and an appetite for the downtown living experience. The City has also provided grants and other incentives that have assisted other private sector projects that have created quality upper floor housing to serve students and young professionals working downtown. These projects are a great start, but more work is needed to shift the balance from low-income concentration to a more equal mix of incomes in the downtown housing market. This would create a built-in customer base for downtown retail, restaurant and cultural enterprises. The increased downtown foot traffic will also create a more attractive environment for suburbanites who are slower to embrace downtown offerings and opportunities. The goal of this Community Legacy-assisted program is to provide matching funds for developers to adapt vacant or under-utilized upper floors for market rate housing targeting 12-40+ units per project, as a means of accelerating our efforts to change the market conditions downtown. Since adoption of The Community's City Center Plan in 2014, the City of Hagerstown has partnered with developers on projects to facilitate creation of market rate upper floor housing. The State provided Community Legacy funds to assist with four projects. In that time, Upper Floor redevelopment projects have been completed at six locations: o 86-98 W. Washington Street o 100 N. Potomac Street o 43-45 S. Potomac Street o 140 W. Antietam Street o 17-21 E. Franklin Street o 170 W. Washington Street These projects resulted in the creation of 80 new units, with a total investment of $12.4 million. In addition, the City invested $3.1 million with funding partners in the development of the Hagerstown Cultural Trail between City Park and W. Antietam Street. This was a recommended amenity to spark housing development in The Community's City Center Plan. The City has extended this trail to W. Washington Street to further connect downtown housing opportunities to this beautiful public art walking trail. Shortlist Confirmed.